Accel World: Iron Princess and the Black Knight
by Pilak
Summary: This story is a completely original work set in the Accel World universe. As the war among the Six Kings of Pure Colour in Tokyo stagnates, another war is taking place in Kanagawa. A girl, completely unaware of this, is drawn into the world of Brain Burst as Iron Rapier and fights alongside Divine Sanctuary against Predatory Carnival's machinations.
1. Login 00: Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters

Login 00: Prologue

_She was running through a dark forest gnarled trees, her footsteps cracking as she ran over dead leaves. She was not sure who or what she was running from- she only knew that it was dangerous, that she had to run from it. The pursuer roared, signalling the entitie's increase in speed. She responded by running faster, her fear driving her. She ran faster and faster until the dark trees lining her path became a blur. Yet the monster continued its relentless pursuit, its footsteps getting louder and louder. She panted as she turned to face the monster. This was the last thing she saw as it pounced on her with snarling fangs bared..._

She woke up with a start, nearly ramming her head against the car's ceiling.  
"Are you ok Ayumi-chan? You look like you had a nightmare."  
"I'm fine mom."  
"Well if thats what you say."  
Ayumi's mother returned her focus to driving as Ayumi herself made several gestures in the air. Through her eyes were several menus and options. She noticed a notification that she had new mail. She opened her inbox which was flooded with mostly farewell messages from the kendou club and her classmates. She smiled as she replayed one such farewell message from her junior high kendou club.

All that did not matter as she was already on her way to her new home with her mother, a business woman recently divorced. All Ayumi knew was that her father cheated on her mother for another woman. In fact that is all she cared to know since the divorce proceedings fell through and her mother legally became single.

Since then, her mother decided that it would be best if they had a new start in a different city. This led to Ayumi being transferred out once her 1st year of junior high ended.  
Ayumi closed her mailbox and opened a news app hoping for something interesting to read. She skimmed through the articles, there was one about a high school student getting into an accident and a review for a new Neurolinker model.

"Ayumi, you know once we get to our new house we'll probably have to eat out for awhile until the kitchen is tidy."  
"Hm."  
"Then it will also be awhile before everything is moved over so you might have to bear with it for a few days."  
"Hm."  
"Then you'll have to go to school during that time too..."  
"Hm."  
"Ayumi-chan, I'm sorry."  
"Mom...there's no need to be sorry." The sudden apology caught Ayumi off-guard. She wanted to say more but her mother intercepted that.

"No I have to be sorry. After all I was the one who decided to make you move without considering your feelings. Even though I'm the one who wants a new start, it shouldn't mean that you should start over too."  
"Mom, its fine. You don't have to worry about that, as long as you are happy now its ok."  
"Ayumi, maybe you're right and I'm just over-thinking this..." she paused for a moment as she smiled, "Ayumi, once we reach the house and unpack the car how about dinner at a family restaurant? I heard there is one somewhere near the train station."  
Ayumi smiled broadly at the idea. She loved family restaurants because they reminded her of happier times. Back when they were still a family.  
"I'll take that as a yes then Ayumi."  
Both mother and daughter were all smiles as they continued down the road.

The wind howled as two Avatars faced each other on opposite ends of an avenue.  
On one end was a large green brutish figure with two large hammers for forearms. The other end of the avenue was occupied by an Avatar that had the appearance of a red princess. This 'princess' even appeared to dress like one, with a multitude of 'ribbons' arranged in neat columns.  
Both were observed by several Avatars of various colours. Several had pulled up the profiles of the two combatants, Jade Hammer and Ruby Princess both of whom were level 4.  
"Scared of me little princess?" Jade Hammer sneered as he laughed.  
"Scared? Why should I be scared of a lout with no neck?"  
"Why you..." he roared as he charged her, hammers flailing. Despite the stampeding mass of destruction approaching her, she calmly stood her ground.  
"Equip enhanced armament Imperial Dreadnought Raiment [AEGIS]!"  
Immediatly, portals opened behind her. Large components flew out and aligned themselves to her back and shoulders. The components had elongated hexagonal plates mounted on them which expanded out once they attached themselves to her back and shoulders. Electricity arced over the plates as a blue dome rippled around Ruby Princess. A hammer made contact with the field, immediatly meeting resistance. His attempts to penetrate the barrier were rewarded with an explosion of energy sending him flying. At the same time his health bar grinded off a third of itself.  
"Don't even think of touching me with that mouldy hammer!"  
"Mouldy?! I'm not mouldy! I'M JADE!"  
"Doesn't matter to me. You still look mouldy."  
Jade Hammer went from irritated to annoyed with that statement. "Damn you...I'll pound you for that!"  
He charged while anyone can imagine a cocky smirk on Ruby Princess' face. "Just try. Setup change! AEGIS to HURRICANE!"  
With the command, the barrier dissapated and the hexagonal shields were replaced with two large boxes with a large number of micro missile launchers. This was accompanied by three groups of six rockets. All of them flew towards the bewildered Jade Hammer

As missiles rained down and explosions rocked the battlefield, the crowd cheered. Amid the boistrous cheers, two figures were discussing amongst themselves.  
One had the appearance of a white robotic Shaolin monk, his head was a clear blue dome that formed a visor with two columns of three lights where his forehead was supposed to be and a pair of eyes.  
His companion had a large build and is clad in black armor and a sharp helmet was a blade in the center. His right arm was equipped with a lance that was folded back while his left arm had more armor.

"This makes this Jade Hammer's tenth consecutive loss. I'm willing to guess that he probably only has enough burst points left for a few more matches." the black knight sighed as he faced the white monk.  
"Well it is sad, but Jade Hammer has been having problems dealing with ranged abilities. It was just bad luck that he's matched up against the worst case scenario."  
"Thats really harsh Ebon-dono."  
"Well Master-san, thats called facing reality but I'm more concerned about the situation in Tokyo."  
The monk continued facing the arena, "You mean about Nega Nebulous and their silver champion?"  
"Flying silver champion." The knight said it matter-of-factly as Jade Hammer was bombarded by more missiles.  
"I suppose the princess' terrible aim is the only thing keeping him alive. Anyway it seems that more Burst Linkers have tried to invade the Monastery again."  
"You held them off?"  
"Of course. It seems that we have to figure out what they are after and secure it."  
"Then I'll entrust that task to you but you will need help."  
The match ended with Ruby Princess being the obvious victor  
"I can handle it myself. Burst Out!"  
As the monk watched the knight go, he sighed, "Ebon Knight might be too stubborn to accept help on his own. Perhaps I should help him with that."

The monk logged out into a family restaurant. In the real world Himoru Negishi was not a monk, merely a first year high-schooler. He had light brown messy hair with equally brown eyes and was of average height. When he Accelerated it felt like thirty minutes had passed although in reality it was only 1.8 seconds. Thus to everyone else he has only just spaced out for a second and not watching a prolonged duel.  
As he resumed chatting with three others, he immediatly had a sensation. He looked at the booth in front of his and saw a radiant aura. He smiled as decided that he had found who he was looking for- a second year junior high school student eating dinner with a woman he assumes to be her mother.  
Negishi smiled to himself and began to plan a way to bring her into the Accelerated World.


	2. Login 01: Awakening

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Login 01: Awakening

"All right everyone, today we have a new student joining us. She just moved here from Tokyo..."  
The 'ooo's and 'aah's from the students indicated that they were impressed that they now knew someone from the Tokyo metropolis- even though the said person no longer lives there. The busty female teacher, Urahama Aoi, decided that it was time to bring the transfer student in, "Ok, you can come in!"  
Ayumi opened the door and went for the centre of the board facing her new class. Calmly she began her self-introduction, "I'm Narajima Ayumi. I was from Tokyo before moving here. I practice kendo and hope to join Hirayama Junior High's girl's kendo club. I hope we'll be able to get to know each other better."

The teacher then stepped forward as everyone began talking among themselves, the topic of those conversations being the new girl from Tokyo, "Ok Narajima-san, you can sit over there next to Hideo-san."  
Ayumi nodded as she walked over to the indicated table. It was at the back corner of the class next to a window facing outside. As she sat down, she turned to face 'Hideo-san'.  
Hideo, which she assumed was his last name, smiled back. He was ordinary looking, so ordinary that one would never notice him in a normal situation. She returned the smile as homeroom started proper.

One week later, Ayumi had settled in and found out about the school's kendo club through friends she had made and the school network. It was Wednesday after school, Ayumi stood in front of a traditional building that seems to be composed of wooden panelling. A simple wooden sign read 'KENDO DOJO' in hastily hand-painted kanji. Even without entering she could hear the sounds of shinai being swung. She slid the wooden doors open. Within was a typical scene out of a kendo manga- groups of students swinging their shinai in unison. Within the large common hall were approximately thirty students neatly divided between boys and girls. She noticed that the girls were dressed white hakamas while the boys wore black.

"May I help you?" Ayumi was startled by the sudden question as she faced a petite short-haired girl wearing a dark blue tracksuit. "Oh sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm the manager for the Hirayama Kendo Club; Takeno Chiyu. Second Year. Are you here to observe?"  
"Yeah...something like that. I might be interested in joining. I'm Narajima Ayumi."  
"Oh thats great Narajima-san! You can take a seat and watch." She indicated to a row of six chairs against a wall next to her.

"Ok."

Ayumi sat down and watched the club practice, the students were led by another older student with short hair that was cropped at the sides who counted off their strokes while a middle-aged mustached teacher stood nearby resting both his hands on his shinai. After their last stroke, the older student rested his shinai, "Alright everybody, thats enough warming up. We'll split up into the boy's and girl's groups for specialized training. Before that Otama-sensei has something to say..."  
As the teacher began to talk, the manager took a seat next to Ayumi, "Looks like you're interested in sempai."  
"Well..."

Ayumi realized that her face was getting hot and bright red. If Takeno was aware, Ayumi was not sure but she answered her assumed query anyway, "Thats Kagama Gen. He used to be in our kendo club before he graduated and went to high school. Now sempai comes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to train us."  
"Kagama Gen..."  
"He's also normally placed in the top five in quite a number of Prefectural and National level junior kendo competitions." The teacher at that point had finished his lecture, mostly about how honorable kendo was, and everyone had divided into two distinct gender groups.  
"You could say he single-handedly made the kendo club the way it is today. Even Otama-sensei is grateful to him."  
"He sounds amazing."  
"He definitely is...say did you know that his family owns a dojo?"  
"Really? Where is it?"  
"Its a traditional building next to the shrine gate, you can't miss it. Besides we always hold our weekend training there."  
"Why? The school is still open on weekends for extra-curricular activities isn't it?"  
"It is but the school network is usually locked on the weekends. Plus sempai's father is there to teach us while his mother makes great snacks." Takeno started beaming when she reached the word 'snacks'. Soon, a commotion began erupting from one corner of the training hall. A crowd was gathering around the source, six older larger boys surrounding a scrawny, small-built boy.  
"Come on, you agreed to spar with us right?"  
There was fear in his eyes as he unsteadily held his shinai in a defensive position. His voice trembled with the same fear that was in his eyes, "But not with all of you..."  
"Well thats the point, we are going to spar you! Its way faster then going one by one!"  
Ayumi got up and started walking towards the group as Takeno went after her. Ayumi heard cruel laughter and the sound of bokuto hitting the floor. Takeno approached the nearest student, "Where's Kagama-sempai?"  
"Kagama-sempai said he had to take a call."  
"Then what about sensei?"  
"He's in the toilet."  
Takeno became exasperated as she shouted for them to stop, her voice barely audible over the six bullies' taunts as they drew closer to their victim. Suddenly Ayumi walked towards a male student carrying a shinai, "Can I borrow that?"  
"Uh sure..."  
Before he could continue, she had already snatched the bamboo sword out of his hand and began pushing through the crowd. Before she knew it, she stood between the bullies and the boy.

"Six on one isn't fair for a sparring match."  
Ayumi held up her borrowed shinai and pointed it at the group of bullies.

"Eh...its none of your business. Get out of the way."  
Ayumi stood her ground.

"Stubborn eh? Well then looks like we'll have to teach her some manners eh?"  
One of the bullies raised his shinai to strike Ayumi's head, his strike was however blocked by her shinai. Before he could react, she deflected his shinai before thrusting the tip towards his throat. She calmly stopped mere milimeters before his throat, "What was it you were saying about teaching me something?"  
"Tch..."  
She withdrew the bamboo blade as he took a cautious step back, clearly being careful not to make her drive the point any further forward. The group immediately walked out, pushing aside anyone standing in their way.

As soon as they left everyone in the hall cheered, surrounding her and giving her congratualtions and compliments for driving them off.

"Wow, you actually told them off and made them stop...only Kagama-sempai could do that."  
"It wasn't much Takeno-san, I just simply did what I felt was right."  
"Plus you were so fast. I think it'd be great if you joined."  
"That would be great..."  
Before Ayumi could finish her sentence, the teacher had returned and order returned with him as everyone resumed their training. She took her seat and resumed watching the groups, Takeno smiled and went about her work as manager, preparing refreshing water for those who were thirsty.

Kagama Gen stood hidden behind the screen doors together with Himoru Negishi, his arms crossed while Himoru casually leaned against the wall, "Himoru, is this your idea of a joke?"  
"I have no idea what you're talking about."  
"You know what I'm talking about, instigating what just happened and making them target Takahashi-san."  
"But I got to see what she is capable of at least."  
"You didn't have to use the Kendo Club for this. Besides would she even accept even if Brain Burst accepts her?"  
"I am sure she will accept, I can sense that she has a strong sense of justice."  
"'A sense of justice'?"  
"Yes, I believe that is something that Burst Linkers lack these days don't you think? Believing that something is so wrong that one has to do something to make it right."  
"Himoru-san...I know you. You're far too practical to give your attention to someone for that kind of reason."  
"Maybe...maybe not. All I know is that all the pieces are in the process of falling into place. Soon we'll be able to stand up to whatever the Yellow Legion has planned."  
"Still...what on earth are they after..."  
Suddenly their surroundings flashed once, turning Kagama's surroundings blue before the scenery changed. The school buildings retained the same structure but appeared to be made of metal, despite it being the late afternoon, the sky was dark and starless.

Kagama clenched his fists, calmly standing in the same spot he stood in reality. Large burning words decalred 'Here comes a New Challenger!'. His challenger was a slender red female figure with a long skirt that was open in the front revealing a mini skirt in a different shade of red. The name plates that had dropped showed that she was named Cardinal Derringer, a level six.

"I didn't think the legendary Nightmare Hydra would allow himself to be caught off-guard like this."  
"I never liked that name. Anyway what do you want Cardinal Derringer."  
"I just want to talk, Ebon Knight."

"Breaking into the school network just to talk? You certainly have a very warped sense of the effort to benefit ratio."  
She laughed as she heard that statement, "Well whatever you wish to believe, I am just here to talk. Until the time runs out, you can ask me anything you want... you're welcome to do that as well Alabaster Master. That is the courtesy my boss is extending to you all."  
From the roof of the nearby school block, Alabaster Master stepped into view, "Very well then, first question: Who is your boss?"  
Cardinal Derringer chuckled abit as she answered, "Now that is a very direct question and if I answered that it would take out all the fun."  
"So you won't tell us?" Ebon Knight his cocked his head as he asked, still weary of Cardinal Derringer's true intentions.  
"All I can say is that we were once part of the Yellow Legion but now we are not."  
"So your group split off...is that what you're saying?"  
"Yes we did split off. Are you just going to keep asking boring questions until we time out?"  
Ebon Knight took a small step fotward as he asked, "Ok then...why even bother with this Q and A?"  
"Because the boss prefers an even battlefield, as much as our war involves weapons, knowledge is also one part of it."  
This is a waste of time, Ebon Knight thought. He knew she was stalling for something but what could it be? He began to note his surroundings: her special meter hasn't changed at all, she was not moving, she had no shadow...  
Immediatly he armed his lance - rapidly swinging it out and grabbing the handle, forcing it to lock into place and swung to his back. This action brought his lance into contact with what seemed to be thin air.

Cardinal Derringer's life bar grinded down by half as she flew through the air, creating craters as she skipped twice across the ground before ramming through a wall into a building. She shimmered into sight as the decoy disappeared.

"I didn't think you would figure out my ability so quickly..."

"Its actually quite obvious if you take the time to think about it."

"Then it looks like I can't give you the time to think then."

She pulls out two short-barrelled handguns and fires two shots. One shot impacts Ebon Knight's armor causing a slight drop in health.

Ebon Knight aims his lance towards her, "Ebon Charge!"

Thrusters behind the lance fire as he charges, black energy surrounding the lance tip. Charging forward, the attack made contact with Cardinal Derringer's location causing a large explosion and a shockwave of energy to blast from the other side of the building causing it to collapse.

After a few brief moments, Ebon Knight emerged from the ruins unfazed and without a scratch. He looked at Cardinal Derringer's life bar- it was left with barely a green sliver.

"That was close...even the wake of your Ebon Charge still causes this much damage. Plus you don't know how to treat a girl properly."  
"You tried to shoot me in the back."  
Ebon Knight turned to face Cardinal Derringer. She stood behind him some distance away, her armor cracked and crumbling. She limped forward several steps, "Looks like it was a mistake for me to hold back."  
"Before I finish this...what is your group after?"  
"Why we are after the treasure in your basement of course."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Looks like the time's up!"  
"Wait!"  
Cardinal Derringer raised her handgun and aimed it skyward. She fired off a white flare that flew into the sky before exploding in a brilliant burst of light.

"We won that duel but yet it feels like we lost."  
After that flash, they had won the duel and had returned to reality. However Cardinal Derringer had not surrendered. In addition her health had not gone down to zero. Kagama Gen furrowed his brow, "At the same time we have even more questions..."  
"Well Cardinal-chan has actually proven one thing, they are serious about getting into the Monasterie's sealed under levels."  
"...and the fact that you're not dismissing this as recklessness means that you are taking this seriously?"  
"Well my Legion is in danger after all."  
"Then I'll put Chameleon on gathering information about this group."  
"Then what about Narajima-san?"  
"You seem rather fixated on her."  
"Indeed I am...but seeing her in action just now has made you interested in her too."  
"Her skill is definitely impressive and that parry and thrust was elegantly done."  
"So see to it that your interest is sated by giving her Brain Burst."  
Kagama sighed, "Fine, I'll do it."  
"I knew you'd be up to it"  
"Shut up."  
Both of them laughed.

Ayumi ended up staying through the whole training session. By the time it was over and everyone was done with the cleaning, it was almost seven o'clock.

"So just pass fill that in and pass it to Otama-sensei tomorrow."

"Ok Takeno-san."

"Please, just call me Chiyu. All my friends do."

Ayumi smiled as she put the form into her sling bag. Before she got up Chiyu shouted to her, "Ayumi-chan, want to join us for dinner? Some of the sempais are treating. Also Kagama-sempai is going too. How about it?"

"I guess its ok since my mom won't be home too early."

"That great! Lets go together then!"

"Then let me get my bike..."  
Ayumi smiled as Chiyu pulled her along while she grabbed her bag.

"Bye Ayumi, we'll meet again tomorrow."

"Sure!"

Ayumi had fun that night at the family restaurant, plus she got to know most of the sempais. The food was good too, having Korean barbeque was always good in her opinion. As everyone went their seperate ways, she began walking towards the train station. She heard the sounds of footsteps behind her, "Heading home Narajima-san?"  
"Yes Kagama-sempai."  
"How about I escort you? Its quite dangerous to go home by train at this hour."  
"Ok, thanks sempai."  
Ayumi smiled as Kagama matched pace with her. They passed through the gantries and walked up the stairs, "Narajima-san...you've been practising kendo since elementary school right?"  
"Actually I started a few months before I got into elementary school."  
"Wow that is young. Even I didn't start that young."  
"So when did sempai start?"  
"Sometime in elementary school. My grandfather always believed that everyone should be allowed a childhood. If you have a good childhood then you'll have something to look back on fondly."  
"Your grandfather is a very wise man."  
"Was a wise man. He passed away last year, one day after I graduated from junior high."  
"Oh, I'm sorry sempai."  
"Its ok, he wouldn't want anybody to be too bothered over something like his death."  
They soon reached the top of the stairs and reached the platform, "Narajima-san, which way are you going? I'm going towards Shiharamaza."  
Her heart skipped a few beats as she answered his question, "I'm going there too."  
"Then it looks like you'll have my company abit longer."

Soon the train arrived, the car they got into was completely empty thus giving them a free choice of seats.  
"Narajima-san, I heard about what happened today."  
"If its about me almost hurting him..."  
"No I'm not scolding you, in fact I want to commend you."  
"R-really?"  
"Really. Not many people have the courage to stand up for others and even fewer will act on their beliefs. You are a courageous girl."  
"Thank you sempai."

"However in reality, courage has its limits but there is a world where that courage can become power."

"A world where courage becomes power..."

Kagama Gen open his bag and pulled out a rolled up direct link cable, "Ayumi, if you accept my offer, you can become a part of this world but if you do...there is no turning back until you're utterly defeated."

Ayumi stared at the cable in his hand, not even bothering about the social implications- she felt that it would not be an appropriate time to point this out, as she weighed his words for a moment before taking one end of the cable and connecting it to her Neurolinker. Kagama did likewise. Within a matter of seconds and several handswipes, a dialogue box appeared requesting for permission to start the transfer of a file: 'BB2039installer'. She pressed the accept button. Immediately, flames surged forth from an icon and surrounded her before they coalesced into a window with a progress bar. Two words stood out, which Ayumi muttered under her breath trying to absorb what she was getting herself into.

"Brain...Burst..."

"I believe the installer should be running now. This will be your last chance to turn back and return back to the world you always know, before Brain Burst shatters your perception of it."

Ayumi took in the weight of his words, a weight which was not enough to deter her from accept this gift as the installation was completed. She watched as the window disintegrated and its particles reformed into a single sentence.

"Welcome to the Accelerated World."

Ayumi switched on the lights in her room and fell onto her bed without bothering to change out of her uniform- her mother said she would not be home until next evening. She opened the file where she had kept the Brain Burst installer. She sighed as she thought about the rest of the train ride. She had felt so embarassed and tense at the same time, she blushed as her brain reminded her that she had never had a boyfriend before. She shook her head as she shifted her thoughts to the strange new icon in her application menu.  
"Is this some kind of game..."

She remembered the strange warning which Kagama gave her, that once she must not log into the global network before the next morning. She was also not that familiar with VR-games, the only one she really enjoyed was the Last Samurai series, a series of sword-fighting VR-games, which her father introduced her to...

She sighed as she remembered her father, a sharp pang of guilt and anger welling up as she did. She had too many questions but she knew that the only way to get them answered was to ask sempai how to use it the next day. Eventually she fell asleep right on the bed.

[i]She was running through the dark forest, the forest that had become familiar to her. When that happened she was not sure but she continued running. The beast roared as it chased after her, crushing fallen leaves and snapping branches as it rampaged. As she ran heard voices.  
"Ayumi-chan, your father will always be here for you."  
"I'm sorry I couldn't come to your entrance ceremony..."  
"Sorry...your daddy has alot of work so I can't come to your birthday tomorrow."  
"Sorry..."  
Her anger grew as images of her father's absence at key events in her life simply fueled it. More images flowed and she ran harder, trying to run away more from the memories rather than the beast. She eventually reached a clearing on a cliff. In front of her were six swords, their blades driven into the ground. Upon closer inspection she realized they were rapiers, french swords with long thin blades. As she stared at the rapiers, she remembered Kagama's words,  
"Not many people have the courage to stand up for others and even fewer will act on their beliefs."  
She knew that he was right, that she had to act on her beliefs and these rapiers represented them. She pulled out two rapiers, one in each hand and faced her pursuer...[/i]


	3. Login 02: Rapier

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters

Login 02: Rapier

Ayumi pushed her bicycle lock shut and stood up. During her short time in this school she never had any reason to come to school this early. She had sent an email to Kagama when she woke up on the morning after installing Brain Burst, subsequently she was told to go to her class at 7:00am to meet someone who will teach her how to use Brain Burst. As she walked to class, she wondered who would be teaching her. She knew Kagama was in high-school so it would be unreasonable and she does not know who else would be using Brain Burst. She shurgged as she started going into the main school building towards her classroom.

As she stepped into the classroom, noticing immediately how quiet it was. The whole room was empty save for the desks, chairs and one student.

"Good Morning Narajima-san."

"Oh good morning Hideo-san, are you always in this early?"

"Not really, I have an appointment. I'm supposed to teach someone the basics of Brain Burst."

"Wait...you're the one Kagama-sempai wants me to meet?"

"If by Kagama-sempai you mean Ebon Knight-dono then yes...I am the one you're supposed to meet."

Ayumi was surprised that this ordinary person in front of her, her classmate, was also like Kagama- a Burst Linker.

"Wait a minute so that means that..."

"Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Hideo Tarou, a Burst Linker. With that out of the way let me ask, did you get a nightmare last night?"

"A nightmare? Yes I did, but how did you know?"

"All Burst Linkers have it on the first night they install Brain Burst. As part of creating your Avatar the program analyzes your pysche, or to be exact it analyzes your traumas and creates your Avatar based on that. The nightmare is the brain's way of interpreting the information that the program is dredging up...or at least thats my theory. However..."

Ayumi walked over to take her seat, sensing that it would probably take awhile. She set her bag down as Hideo exhaled, "I guess the best way to teach would be to show you..."

Hideo stood up and gestured for Ayumi to follow him.

"Urm Hideo-san..."

"Yes?"

"I know that you want to show me how Brain Burst works but why are we at the baseball field?"

"That's because I am going to demonstrate how the acceleration command works."  
"By walking on the pitch?"  
Ayumi sounded incredulous as the sounds of baseballs making contact with bats resounded around the pitch. They continued walking along the perimeter of the baseball team's training area, mindful of the balls being pitched. However it started to appear to Ayumi that she was the only one being mindful. Despite this, Hideo continued his lesson, "One of the basic commands you start with is called Acceleration costing only one burst point per use. It accelerates your brain's processing speed to one thousand times faster than normal. The command to activate it is 'Burst Link'.."  
Suddenly there was yelling from one of the groups practising their pitching.  
"Hey look out!"  
A baseball came flying towards Hideo at an almost unavoidable speed. However despite the imminent danger he calmly stood his ground  
"Narajima-san, yell the command with me. Burst Link!"  
"Burst Link!"  
Immediately their surroundings slowed to a halt, everything including the ball and the falling leaves from the nearby trees stopped. In addition the entire world seemed to have turned blue. After several seconds, she realized she was looking at herself frozen in place. Her avatar, a female armorued samurai glanced around and noticed an antromorphic green chameleon wearing a yukata.

"This is what it looks when we accelerate and everything around us is slowed down one thousand times. Essentially, here, one second is equal to one thousand seconds thus when we accelerate we have all the time in the world to think through situations that would require split-second decisions."

"So it stops time?"

"Not exactly. Like I said, everything is sped up a thousand times making everything seem a thousand times slower. If you look closely at the ball, its actually still moving...just very slowly..."

Ayumi peered at the ball that was inching steadily closer towards Hideo's face. Hideo's avatar walked towards the ball, "Time still flows as you can see. Eventually the ball will hit my face but until then I have all the time to decide on my next course of action. In addition everything you see are actually recreated from data gathered from nearby social security cameras..."  
"You mean hacking the social security cameras?"  
"Pretty much."  
"To go that far for something like this."  
"Acceleration is a secret power that is addictive. You'll thirst for the thrill of going so fast that everything stops and never want to let it go. Thats why we fight to hold onto this program."  
"Fight?"  
"It'll be easier to understand once you start fighting in a duel. We'll get you started on your first duel after school."  
Ayumi thought to herself that everyone involved with Brain Burst seemed to take the game way too seriously. However despite that cynical thought she was curious about the dueling aspect of Brain Burst.  
"To cancel the acceleration, just say with me 'Burst Out'!"  
"Burst Out!"  
There was a momentary flash where the blue tinged world reverted to its original colours and their original speeds. Hideo dodged the ball, fully expecting it considering the amount of time accelerating. The player responsible for the stray ball ran towards them as the said ball bounced off the nearby fence behind them.  
"I'm so sorry, are you and your girlfriend alright?"  
"I'm fine and she's not my girlfriend."

"Lucky for us...that means the rest of us have a chance." He laughed as he ran past them to retrieve the ball. Ayumi raised an eyebrow at the statement, "What did he mean when he said that?"  
"You didn't know? Everyone heard about what happened in the kendo dojo and you became famous overnight as the heroic transfer student."  
"Thats a weird nickname."  
"Well its what the school forums and your fanclub came up with."  
"Fanclub!?"  
"Narajima-san, you have no idea how far your fame goes in this day and age."  
Hideo smiled cryptically as they made their way to their homeroom as more students started streaming through the front gates.

Metallic footsteps echoed through a cavernous corridor lined with hanging banners in seven different colours (red, blue, green, yellow, purple, black and white) but had the same symbol, an elaborate seven pointed star, symbolizing that the current occupants of the Monastery is the Legion called Divine Sanctuary. The metallic footsteps soon stopped in front of a bead curtain concealing stone stairs going up. Ebon Knight [Kagama] pushed the curtain aside and climbed the stairs. Eventually he reached the top of the stairs, stepping onto a large circular platform that oversaw the vast Unlimited Neutral Field. On a raised pedestal, Alabaster Master [Himoru] sat in a lotus position.  
"Meditating at this hour? Thats unusual of you."  
"I was thinking about yesterday..."  
"Cardinal Derringer?"  
"Chameleon hasn't gotten anything on her group yet but he has found out something interesting about Cardinal."  
"He sent me that message too. There were no intrusions or illegal connections detected by the school's firewall. In addition the log only recorded students and teachers connected to the network at the time of the ambush with no guest accounts present."  
"So Ebon-dono...this can only mean one thing, that Cardinal-chan is a student at that school and is somehow privy to the fact that both Ebon Knight [Kagama] and Alabaster Master [Himoru] would be at the school."

"So going by that logic it would seem that there is a chance that she knows our identities."

Alabaster Master [Himoru] started rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "...and this is where Narajima Ayumi comes in."

"We're depending on her? We're not even entirely sure what her Duel Avatar is."

"Weren't you the one who testified to her skills?"

"As someone who practices kendo and besides I don't think it is wise to depend on something that we haven't even gained a grasp of."

"True... however its either Narajima Ayumi or Navy Brawler."  
"Well I can see why you would need her if thats the case..."  
"He's strong but too hot-headed and lacks delicacy when it comes to situations like these. Lemon Chameleon is an excellent intelligence operative but lacks offensive capability. Emerald Bulwark is too timid and as impressive as his defensive stats are, what we need are fighters."  
"Well I do admit that for a frontline team it is abit too ragtag."  
"That is why we have Narajima-san and Ruby Princess to bolster their standing strength..."  
"...and you want me to lead them because I know them best."  
"Ebon-dono...you definitely know how I think."  
"We have been friends even before the Battle Royale..."  
"True Ebon-dono. We've been through alot as friends..."  
"Anyway Chameleon will be putting her through her first duel later."  
"So this appears to be a chance to put our doubts in Narajima-san to rest and to see what power Brain Burst has given her."  
Ebon Knight [Kagama] answered with silence as the both of them made their way back to the corridor. Alabaster Master [Himoru] soon broke the silence, "How is Ruby Princess settling in?"  
"Turns out both Brawler and Bulwark are in the same first year homeroom as her."  
"Then it'll be easier for them to be better teammates."  
"Princess and Brawler have been bickering every time they so much as glance at each other."  
"Thats just the start of a beautiful friendship."  
Ebon Knight [Kagama] sighed, "Sometimes I think I should have been level nine."  
"Yes but you said that you didn't have the proper mindset to lead a legion."  
"Battle Royale simply proved that to me."  
Silence returned as they reached a large circular area. At equal intervals were pedestals that were in one of seven colours, on them were extremely large images of seven different Avatars towering over the room. At the centre of the room was a seven pointed star with each point aimed at a pedestal, the room also served as the Monastery's own leave point.

"You know Ebon, I wonder what kind of ability she has."

"Well whatever it turns out to be, we'll still need her strength."

"Agreed...Burst Out!"

Both Avatars disappeared in a stream of light as they left the Unlimited Neutral Field behind for the mundane real world.

Ayumi felt relief as the school bell rang indicating that the school day was over.

"Alright everyone, just do a three page report on the history of neurolinkers and submit it by tomorrow. Class Rep."

"Class stand. Bow."

The teacher left as soon as the instructions were carried out, taking with him any order the class had as the students excitedly discussed their plans for the rest of the day. However while the students discussed going out for fun or even karoke, Ayumi had a duel to go to.

"Ayumi-chan, wanna go to the shopping street with me?"

"Sorry I can't Katsuhara-san...I need to do something else. "  
"Ah ok...I'll see you tomorrow then Ayumi-chan!"

Ayumi grabbed her bag and proceeded towards the schoolgate which marked the border between the school network and the Global Network. She turned and saw Hideo walking towards her calmly.

"Feeling excited about your first fight?"

"Not really sure what to expect Hideo-san..."

"Just do your best and remember everything I've explained to you...thats all I can say."

She nodded as she stepped through the school gates. Almost instantly the world flashed blue before dissolving into a sandy desert ruins. She noted that the placement of the structures mirrored actual structures and landmarks in reality. Two bars on chains with plates attached to them dropped down, on the left side there was a name plate with 'Iron Rapier' on it while the other had 'Gold Leo'. In the centre was a timer starting at 1800 seconds. Large words said 'Here comes a new challenger!' before they disappeared in a gust of burning embers. At the bottom of the screen was what looked like a compass with a fixed red arrow indicating north while the moving arrow pointed to the one she assumed was Gold Leo.

"Ah...looks like we have a newbie. Pretty sure your metal colour is nothing compared to my magnificent gold for I am Gold Leo!"  
As his name suggested, he resembled a golden anthromorphic lion. However, she was more preoccupied with her own appearance. She stared at metallic gauntlets and slowly clenched and un-clenched her fists, "Is this...me..."

"Now since you're newer than me I'll give you the privilege of getting the first hit on glorious me!"

Gold Leo flicked his mane, one could practically imagine sparkles coming off it. However Ayumi was not concerned about him, rather her focus was on her own appearance. Looking down she saw that her entire body was a metallic grey, three sword sheaths were attached to each side of an armored side skirt. Her feet had two blades, one running down the middle of the top of her feet and another on her heels.

"Hey...are you ignoring glorious me?"

As Gold Leo started to fume, Iron Rapier [Ayumi] clicked through her skills menu like how Hideo explained to her. She noted that she had several skills: 'Pierce'and 'Stab' appeared to be her basic skills. She also noticed six special moves though they were all greyed out.

"If you're going to keep ignoring me, I'll retract my generous offer and just attack!"

He dashed towards her, extending his claws as he did so, and pulled his right fist back. She rapidly drew out a sword and blocked the attack before he followed up with his left fist. She drew out another sword to deflect the successive attack.

Gold Leo growled as he rapidly punched her, his frustration growing as his flurry of punches were all deflected. Soon he threw a punch which Iron Rapier was ready to answer with a blade but instead Gold Leo drew it back and following up with a high kick to her left. She responded to the feint quickly, using both her blades to block his kick causing the blades to dig into his shin.

"Tch...you actually saw through that feint. No matter, you're now open!"

Gold Leo drew back his kick and aimed a punch for her gut which was kneed away before it could make contact. She exploited the moment he was recovering to use her Pierce move to drive a rapier into the armor joint between his shoulder and right breastplate. He howled in pain as she tried to pull out the rapier, only to realize that it was stuck in his shoulder. Her struggle to remove the blade were rewarded with punches, causing her health to slowly grind away with each punch.

The spectators jeered and laughed as they saw Iron Rapier's futile struggle and beating.  
"Little newbie can't get her stick out?"  
"You must be a maso to want to get beaten like that!"  
"A metal colour is wasted on a noob like you!"  
Nearby, a group of avatars watched the fight intently, evaluating their possible new recruit. A blue robot dressed as a typical bancho with a long sword strapped to his back was lying down on a rock while using another rock to prop his feet up, "She doesn't seem like much Boss. I mean she even got her sword stuck in his shoulder and only keeps blocking!"  
Nearby, a red avatar who had the appearance of a princess in an elaborate ballgown with the volumous skirt serving as her legs. Instead of walking, she hovered a few centimeters off the ground and turned to face the blue robot, "At least she's using her swords the way they are meant to be used...you just use yours like a club."  
"Whats that supposed to mean Your Highness?"  
"It means that you use your sword like a club, Brawler."  
"Thats Brawler-san to you and at least I can hit something! Your shots go so wide with your Dragoon Cannon that you hit stuff behind you! Its fixed facing forward! I'm not even sure how its humanly possible!"  
"That shows how amazing I am!"  
"More like how amazingly bad."  
"Why you..."  
Ebon Knight turned his attention away from the battle to address the bickering behind him  
"Ruby Princess! Navy Brawler! Can the both of you shut it!?"  
They replied meekly in unison, "Sorry sir."  
A tall, lanky, yellow avatar chuckled. He had a chameleon's head and tail along with odd two-thumbed and three-fingered hands and feet.  
"I understand the pain Ebon Knight-dono."

As a short, small-built green avatar with large shields on his forearm tried to comfort Navy Brawler, Ebon Knight returned his attention to the on-going fight, watching Iron Rapier's health drop with each punch. However he began to notice that Gold Leo's health was also dropping even though Iron Rapier was not attacking.

"So you noticed Ebon Knight-dono?"

"It could also be the same reason why she can't get her sword out, its supposed to be stuck into her opponent."

"That is truly one sadistic ability, dealing continous damage like that."

"Lets hope she figures it out soon before the rest of her health goes. Iron may be resistant against physical abilities but she won't last forever."

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] watched her health whittle away, wincing in pain with each punch. She had neither expected the sword to go through Gold Leo's shoulder nor that it would get stuck in said avatar's shoulder. She decided that it would be best to forget about that sword. Planting her right foot firmly on his chest, she kicked him away while realeasing her sword. Gold Leo staggered as she used the momentum of her kick to put some distance. She could imagine the angry scowl as his health grinded away.  
"I was benovelent enough to allow you a gracious defeat but it seems that you're intent on humiliating me. Even going so far as to start turning me into a pincushion! The audacity!"  
"You really like big words don't you?"  
"Thats it! Shape Change!"  
With the command, his killer move bar emptied and he fell forward onto all fours- all claws extending as it happened. His neck extended to allow him to comfortable face forward. His tail followed, extending outwards. Within a matter of seconds the transformation was complete. Resembling his namesake, he was a completely golden lion.  
"Quiver in fear and behold my glorious form!"  
He began pacing as she drew another sword to replace the one stuck in her opponent's shoulder. As she carefully watched Gold Leo she noticed a panel had appeared below the timer with five lights. Only one was lit with a red light and a panel hung below the row of lights with the words 'Heavy Strike' in orange seemingly gouged into the panel.

However before she could open up her attack menu and read its description, Gold Leo leaped into the air. She made a quick decision backstepping enough that he missed pouncing onto her but at the same time still remaining in striking range. As his feet made contact with the ground she was previously on, she jumped. Still recovering from the surprise of the sudden move, Gold Leo looked as he saw Iron Rapier [Ayumi] sheath her left blade. She declared the name of the attack, activating it which caused the light to go out and some of her special meter to empty out.

"Heavy Strike!"

Gripping the remaining blade with both hands, she swung the blade down in an overhead strike, the blade glowing with a soft blue light, as she fell back to the ground. The arc of the strike made contact with Gold Leo's shoulder, destroying it and causing the arm connected to it to drop to the ground. The rest of his health completely disappeared. Eventually Iron Rapier was declared the winner.

Gold Leo growled, "Destroying my shoulder like that...you...will...pay..."

He collapsed onto the ground before he could finish his sentence. He disntegrated into a stream of yellow data. She panted as she fell to her knees in exhaustion and relief, watching as several figures emerge onto the battlefield.  
"Congratulations on winning your first fight."

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] turned to face the origin of the comment, a large black knight with a lance folded back on his right arm, "Is that you Kagama-sempai?"

"Here I am called Ebon Knight and once again congratulations. I was really impressed by that attack towards the end."

"Thank you..."

"Now that you have an idea of what Accel World is, I would like to formally invite you to join our Legion: Divine Sanctuary. If you choose to accept, Iron Rapier, we have alot to discuss."

"Please...please have mercy..."

"Mercy? You forfeited that the moment you stepped into my Legion's territory. Now disappear from my sight."

The loud roar of the chainsaw echoed across the metallic landscape as he brought it down to cleave the hapless avatar into two, his screams drowned out by the chainsaw as a large column of purple light erupted leaving behind a panel and an one hour countdown. The large blue avatar drove the nose of his chainsaw into the ground, resting his hands on the hilt.

"Tyrant-sama."

Prussian Tyrant turned his head to see a red avatar kneeling on his left, "Derringer, how is Twilight Orbit's surveillance on Divine Sanctuary?"

"He reports that there have been no significant movements though it appears that Ruby Princess and a new Burst Linker have been recruited by them."

"Hmm...so they're bolstering their raw firepower. Well I suppose it is no fun if the prey doesn't put up a good fight. Good work Derringer. You may leave."

"Yes Tyrant-sama but what about the invasion plan?"

"Lets just say nothing has changed, no matter who they recruit...even if its one of the six kings, we will crush them and claim the treasure that is sealed in the Vault. Now leave me...I have much to think about."

"Thats very unlike you Tyrant-sama."

"Monotony and consistency only bring about complacency."

Cardinal Derringer stood and bowed as she left the general area leaving the intimidating avatar to whatever thoughts he had.


	4. Login 03: Legion

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Author's notes: This chapter is mostly an introduction to the basic groups dynamics of the main Divine Sanctuary group. Also lets say I have interesting plans for Navy Brawler, Ruby Princess and Kizaki Hikari.

Login 03: Legion

It was Sunday morning as Narajima Ayumi stood in front of a traditional gate, behind which was a surprisingly modern two-storey house. She also spotted the top of a traditional roof connected to the house. The marble nameplate read 'Kagama' in vertical script. There were other names which she presumed belonged to his family members. Nervously, she adjusted her grey blouse and denim shorts before she found the bell icon and pressed it.  
"Hold on, I'm coming!"  
Kagama's voice was followed by the sound of footsteps then a click as the gate was opened. Kagama held the gate open dressed in a pair of grey trackpants and a red sleeveless shirt.  
"Ah, Narajima-san...you're early. No one else is here for the mission meeting but you can come inside. You can also leave your bike by the front door."  
"Ok, thank you...sorry to intrude."  
Leaning her bike next to the door, she entered the door and slipped off her shoes, wearing a pair of guest slippers. Stepping inside she was led down a corridor and through a door into what she took as a living room.

"I'll get something for you to drink...do you want anything in particular?"

"Not really...anything will do sempai."

"Ok then, I'll get you some iced barley tea then. You still have the guest account from yesterday right?"

"Yes."

"Then there should be no problems...you can watch some TV while waiting for the others to come."

As Kagama left the room, Ayumi sheepishly sat down on the black leather sofa. She was not sure why she was nervous. Maybe it was because she was in her sempai's house? Or maybe she was not dressed nicely enough? As she sat there blushing, Kagama came back with two cups of drinks and a plate of crackers on a tray. She blushed even harder.

"Are you alright Narajima-san? You face is getting really red."

"I'm fine sempai...anyway where're your parents?"

"Ah...my father is in Tokyo to help a friend with his junior high kendo team for a month starting today. My aunt is in the hospital for a broken hip so my mother is in Hokkaido for three weeks."

"So you have the whole house to yourself?"

Casually, Ayumi took a cracker and bit it into half, chewing it noisily.

"Pretty much."

Also taking a cracker, Kagama chewed off half of it. The doorbell rang.

"Ah, that must be the others. I'll get the door, just make yourself at home Narajima-san."

Eventually the entire group consisting of an additional four junior high schoolers, three males and one female, arrived and were all relaxing in the living room. Ayumi only knew Hideo Tarou but she was unfamiliar with the other three. One was a small built boy with short brown hair who she knew was a first-year in the kendo club and was the one she saved from the group of bullies though she never got his name. The second male was larger built, resembling a delinquent. He was dressed in a pair of torn jeans with a chain serving as a belt paired with a black t-shirt. His hair was cut short at the back with a long fringe. The girl however had the appearance of a typical rich girl with an expensive looking red skirt and white blouse. Her blond hair was tied in two long pigtails with two smaller ones at the back of her head. Kagama looked at everyone, noting that everyone was there before starting, "Alright, before we begin with today's group meeting I would like to introduce a new member who is joining our legion starting today. After that I would like everyone to introduce themselves to her. Narajima-san, you can start."

Ayumi nervously stood up to face everyone, "Hello, I'm Narajima Ayumi, a second year middle school student at Hirayama Middle School. My duel avatar is Iron Rapier. I'll be in your care."

As she took her seat, the delinquent was the next one to speak, "I'm Tenma Godou, First year at Hirayama Middle School. My duel avatar is Navy Brawler."

The next to speak was the small built boy, "I'm Takahashi Haki...I'm also a first year at Hirayama Middle School. My duel avatar is Emerald Bulwark. I hope we get to work well together!"

The last to speak was the rich girl, "Kizaki Minami, same school as those two. My duel avatar is Ruby Princess."  
"Wait...Kizaki? As in Kizaki Hikari?"  
"That would be my older sister the high-school idol queen."  
The word 'queen' was said with much contempt.  
Kizaki Hikari was an idol who began her rise to stardom about two years ago when she participated in a singing competition right after her junior high graduation. Now she has four hit albums in the Top 100 songs along with a multitude of credited roles in television, anime, games and even a minor role in Hollywood. In addition has a legion of fans all across Japan and even overseas. Among those fans are an extremly hardcore faction of fans who declared themselves 'Kizatakus' and attend every one of her events without exception, even going so far as to skip work and school for the entire duration of her concert. Essentially she is a super idol in every sense of the word.  
"Well they may be sisters but she definitely doesn't have her older sister's grace."  
"Tenma-san, at least I'm the sister of an idol. You're just a delinquent!"  
"I'll show you who's a delinquent! Burst Link!"  
Both Tenma and Kizaki spaced out for a brief second before they snapped back, as though some kind of secret battle was concluded.  
"Hah, your aim is still terrible!"  
Kagama sighed, "Are the both of you done?"  
Tenma and Kizaki were both silent  
"Good...since Narajima-san is acquainted with myself and Hideo-san there is no need to introduce ourselves. Now onto why I have gathered this team and why I have brought in Narajima-san."  
He nodded to Hideo who produced a hexagon shaped device along with several direct-link cables. Everyone took a cable and plugged into the device.  
"Whats wrong Narajima-san?"  
"Its nothing, just that direct linking with so many people..."  
"Don't worry, I made sure Hideo-san put in enough privacy filters into the DirectLink Hub."  
"Its not that sempai..."  
She sighed, deciding that it was pointless to explain something she herself believed is irrational. She plugged into the hub.  
*Ok, now that everyone is linked, I can start. I believe you all know of the attacks on the Monastary and the various attempts to breach the Vault. A group or at least its member has claimed credit for it.*  
He nodded to Hideo who made a gesture, flicking an icon to each member of the group. Upon reaching her view, the icon spread out into a cluster of windows. Several of them were huge text files while the rest were images and clips of a red avatar.  
*This is Cardinal Derringer. All we know is that, aside from the obvious, she is level six. However Hideo-san has discovered another fact that will help. According to the school's connection logs there were no illegal connections or intrusions at the time of the duel. In addition the only active connections at the time were those of teachers, myself, Himoru-san and approximately fifty students. Out of the fifty student connections, only seven had data transfers that were consistent with Brain Burst's data usage patterns. Thus there is a high chance that she might be a student at Hirayama Middle School.*  
Kizaki interrupted, *So do we know who it is?*

Hideo answered, *Unfortunately the encryption on things like account user ID's is still a little beyond what I can do. However what I do have is GPS data for where each data transfer is originating from.*  
With a flick of his finger, an image of a layout flew to the fore front. Ayumi realized that the layout was of the school as Hideo swiped his hand over it, producing several red dots, some of which were overlapping.  
*These are the approximate locations of Burst Linkers that were within the school premises. As we have discussed some time ago, all of our alibis check out. Meaning that there is only one location that Derringer could have accelerated from.*  
Six dots disappeared leaving one centered at the rectangle labled 'kendo dojo'.  
*Then Cardinal Derringer is a kendo club member?*  
*Or at least a student who happened to be there at the time.*  
*That still narrows us down to about thirty.*  
Kagama sighed thoughtfully, *At the very least we have more information to go on this time. Also the fact that Cardinal's Burst Linker is a member of the kendo club means that we are at least able to isolate and draw her out if we need to.*  
He sat up to grab his drink, taking a sip before continuing, *This is where Narajima-san comes in. There is a slim chance that our real life identities might have already been compromised...*

Ayumi knew where this was going so she continued his sentence, *So you need someone who is so new that she isn't even on the radar?*

*Exactly... we will use your newbie status to our advantage. Essentially your job will be to find out who Cardinal Derringer is.*  
*Ehh?! How am I supposed to do that?*  
*The only way would be to accelerate and check the matching list everytime some comes into the dojo.*  
*But isn't the dojo part of the school domain?*  
*It is Narajima-san, however the main school domain is actually sub-divided into smaller domains for each building to save the cost of bandwidth for the entire school compound. Hence by monitoring the dojo's sub-domain and accelerating every time someone enters, we should be able to get her.*  
Kagama smiled as he finished by pushing the image to one side, *Now that thats out of the way, Narajima-san.*  
*Yes sempai?*  
*Challenge me to a match.*  
*What? Sempai you don't mean...*  
*Don't worry... its just so I can teach you a few things. We'll just be there until time's up.*  
*I suppose its ok if its like that.*  
Kagama made several gestures before he looked at her directly, *Do you remember how to setup a match?*  
*Yes sempai.*  
*Alright then. Burst Link!*

A calm breeze blew through a purple crystal forest as two avatars stood in a clearing, Ayumi as Iron Rapier stood stunned at the area's surreal beauty.  
"You know Narajima-san, you shouldn't get stunned by the scenery like that in a real battle."  
Ayumi turned towards the source of the voice, facing a black armored figure approaching her, "Alright, open up your skill menu and tell me what you have there currently."

"Well I have two normal skills: Stab and Pierce. Then I have five special moves but they're all greyed out..."  
Ebon Knight [Kagama] rubbed his chin, "Hmm, I've never heard of someone starting out with so many special moves before but it appears that there are conditions you have to fulfill before you can use your special moves."

"Well about that sempai...after I used Pierce, a strange light appeared under my name. After that I could the first move...Heavy Strike I think its called."  
"Hmm...could your avatar be using a combo system..."

"Combo...system?"

"It seems that your avatar has to use Pierce to build up your counters. Then these counters can be used to activate your killer move depending more on how many counters it costs rather then depending entirely on your special meter."

"Sounds complicated sempai..."

"I'll be honest with you, it took me a long time to get used to fighting with my lance."

"Really? I can't imagine that someone like you had trouble at all sempai."

"To be honest a lance is nothing like a sword at all and in the beginning I had serious manuervability problems since my main attack is a charge."

"So how did you get used to your weapon?"

"Practice, alot of duels and trial and error."

"I see..."

Ebon Knight [Kagama] hinged his lance forward, "However I guess you could say that the lance is my own fault..."

"What makes you say that? You didn't choose this weapon?"

"Well the lance was what I started out with so I guess this was something the system gave me. So in a way this lance represents who I am, someone who is strong and single-minded yet has problems with change. Perhaps there is a reason why you were given those six swords and why your special moves have such a system."

Absently, Ebon Knight [Kagama] turned away from Iron Rapier [Ayumi], taking in the scenery of the crystal forest. An aurora radiated across the sky as he slowly paced about, "By choosing the path of a Burst Linker you will face many things; friends, victory, love, battle, rivals, enemies...you will face all of these as we fight our way to level 10."

"Level 10? Level 10 doesn't seem very high in my opinion."

"Well there might be more but we are only aware of ten levels and we only know this because of a system message Alabaster Master got when he got to level nine. That message revealed the existence of level ten and that those who reached it would meet Accel World's creator...but it also states the conditions to reach level ten."

"Conditions?"

"You need to defeat five other level nine avatars."

"That doesn't seem like alot sempai..."

"Also these battles are sudden death battles, namely if you lose...you lose all your Burst Points."

Ayumi was silent as she took in the seriousness of what that meant as he continued, "Have you heard of the Six Kings of Pure Colour?"

"Well Hideo-sa...I mean Chameleon-san has mentioned them a few times. They are the six level nine legion masters in Tokyo."

"Correct, when they hit level nine at more or less the same time two years ago, they received the same system message as Alabaster Master and instead of progressing to level ten, they agreed to a non-aggression pact and stagnated since then. However this situation did not happen here in Kanagawa, rather the exact opposite happened."

"So what exactly happened here?"

"Sadly, that is a story for another time...for we're out of time."

Iron Rapier watched as the timer ticked down to zero, watching the draw declaration appear then the scenery shifted back to reality.

They eventually spent the rest of the day chatting and helping Ayumi get enough Burst Points to reach level two safely through tag matches. However despite a drawn out debate over ice cream, they could not reach a decision on how to spend her level-up bonus. Soon it was Monday.  
"Sorry Ayumi-chan, I need to head to the staff room to help a teacher."  
"Its fine Chiyu-chan, I'll go to the dojo first."  
As they parted ways, Ayumi began to think back to the prolonged argument regarding her level-up bonus. Essentially, she was given four options:

- Cavalier's Chainmail; increases her armor by 30%.  
- Double Pierce; a killer move which applies 2 Rapier counters by consuming 30% of the killer move meter and two Rapiers  
- Kamaitachi; a ranged normal attack that damages all enemies in the path of the slash.

- Atom-tip Rapier; passively increases the pierce stat by 50%.

As she approached the now familiar kendo dojo, she continued thinking about her level-up bonus, completely unaware of a set of footsteps falling into step behind her.  
"Sempai!"  
"Ah, Tenma-san...going to the dojo."  
"Yep."  
"So you can fight Derringer-san when we find her?"  
"Actually yeah."  
She giggled as Tenma blushed at the fact that his real reason for coming was exposed. He soon resumed the conversation, "So sempai...how did you get to know Kagama-sempai? Or rather to be more exact how did Kagama-sempai invite you into the legion?"

"Guess I was just scouted."

"Scouted huh...but still you must have seriously caught Kagama-sempai's attention for him to personally try to recruit you."

She smiled at the thought as they entered the dojo. Before entering the male changing room, Tenma turned towards Ayumi, "Don't forget to call me if you get into a fight!"

"Doubt there'd be a fight, I just need to figure out who this Cardinal Derringer is right?"

"Well you never know sempai!"

As the door closed, she decided to start her tedious task. Soon after changing she would warm-up in a position that would allow her to see the main entrance since the training would not start until everyone was there. Accelerating and checking the matching list soon proved to be an exhausting and expensive affair- ten burst points and ten minutes later the search only pulled up three names: Iron Rapier, Navy Brawler and Emerald Bulwark.  
"Dammit! I want to have a fight already!"  
Ayumi ignored Tenma as she scanned the training hall, noting that everyone was already in the hall either milling around or chatting. Soon everyone started to fall in as the teacher came in to start the warm-up however Ayumi felt uneasy as she whispered the accelerate command, turning the world blue. Frozen as though it was a surreal blue tinted photograph, she scrolled through the matching list, still seeing the three familiar names of her Legion's avatars. She looked through the kendo club students, noting that everyone was there...  
Nearly everyone, she realized.  
She noticed that Takeno still was not in the hall. She stopped accelerating and asked another member, "Have you seen the manager?"  
"Yeah I did...she said that she had something urgent happening at home and that she isn't coming."  
Her thoughts began to race as she started to come to realize that there was a possibility that her friend, Takeno Chiyu, was Cardinal Derringer.

Before she could rationalize her assumption, the world flashed blue then dissolved away revealing a ruined arena. Several columns dotted the circular stone area as two avatars stood in front of her.  
One seemed to be made of fire as his body flickered slightly, flames occasionally licking his armor. His face was nothing more than a pair of eyes set in his 'face'. His partner was more solid being composed of diamond with a far bulkier build and a single cyclopean green eye. Three avatars were in the stands, a red avatar, a blue avatar seated on a throne and a purple avatar. The blue avatar stood up, his visage locked into a savage grin, driving the blade of his chainsaw sword into the ground  
"Welcome Divine Sanctuary!"

"Who are you? Whats going on?"

"Who am I? I'm the Legion Master of Predatory Carnival; Prussian Tyrant! As for what is going on, I would like your assistance."

Iron Rapier drew her swords, "What do you mean by that?"

"Why what else do I mean? I just simply want to see your strength and at the same time test the strength of my potential new recruits; Blaze Pyro and Diamond Wall. Now...all of you, entertain me!"

Blaze Pyro and Diamond Wall, level three and level four respectively, responded simultaneously, "Yes Tyrant-sama!"

Diamond Wall immediately charged towards Iron Rapier while Blaze Pyro surged towards Navy Brawler, both struggling to defend themselves against their near immediate attack.


	5. Login 04: Predator

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Author's Note: This chapter is the meat of the tag-battle between Iron Rapier and Diamond Wall. Also theres an interesting development at the end.

Login 04: Predator

"Damn this guy..."  
Navy Brawler cursed as the flames engulfed him, barely being blocked by his sword. However the heat of the flames were enough to chew away some health.  
Iron Rapier though had a different problem as her swords bounced off Diamond Wall's body. Almost no damage was being done to him at all.  
"I know all about your killer move, you need to stick your swords into me before you can use them. However you can't use your killer moves if you can't get your toothpicks into me!"  
She gritted her teeth as she blocked his swinging barrel-like arms with her blades. As much as she was irritated by Diamond Wall calling her rapiers toothpicks, she admitted that he was right. As she is now she cannot pierce Diamond Wall's body. She heard screams of pain as Navy Brawler was bathed in flames extending from the maniacally laughing Blaze Pyro's hands. There has to be a way to beat them, she thought as Diamond Wall kept pounding her defending rapiers, but how do we defeat opponents made of flame and diamond?  
Soon, both Navy Brawler and Iron Rapier were forced back to back by the onslaught of attacks.  
"Sempai! I don't think we can hold out like this."  
"I know that Brawler-san..."  
Another fist came down. As much as her metal colour provided her with enhanced resistances to physical attacks, it was not an immunity. Her health will be worn away driving the urgency for finding a way to defeat them. That's when she noticed it, the fact that Diamond Wall's body is composed of multiple facets. She also remembered something about diamonds from her science class. She struggled to remember as her health was chewed away bit by tiny bit.  
"Say Tenma-san, your grandfather was a jeweller right?"  
"I'm on fire and you're asking about my grandfather?!"

"Just answer the question."

"Yes he was! What about it?"

"Did he ever work with diamonds before?"

"Of course sempai but what are you trying..."

"How did he cut diamonds?"

"Well he told me that he used a diamond saw."  
"A diamond saw?"  
"Yes but we obviously don't have something like that!"  
The hammering persisted as she tried to come up with a way to break through Diamond Wall's skin. Then she had it; the idea was ludicrous and there was the possibility even upgrading her piercing might not be enough. However she had to try something.  
"Brawler, can you try to shake off Pyro? I have an idea but we need him out of the way."  
"I might just have enough in my meter for the killer move you need...but I'll need a distraction."  
Iron Rapier dodged a punch from Diamond Wall, using the momentum from the punch to flip him over Navy Brawler and into the stream of flames.  
"I didn't know you could throw someone like that."  
"Well Chameleon taught me how to do it."  
"Hmm..I gotta ask him once this fight is over.."  
By then, the torrent of flames had stopped giving them the opening they needed. Navy Brawler raised his sword over his head and brought it down. The resulting slash produced a white crescent that froze the ground. Large ice crystals erupted in its path. Diamond Wall managed to roll away from the attack. Blaze Pyro however, was not so quick as he was quickly frozen into place.  
Diamond Wall got up and charged towards the pair with surprising speed. The two rolled away to cleanly dodge it, giving them the opportunity for Iron Rapier to position her sword between his shoulders for her Pierce attack. Navy Brawler charged his sword, producing a strong constant jet from the back of his blade.  
Within mere seconds, she rapidly selected the 'Atom-tip Rapier' level bonus. The rapier glowed for a moment as Navy Brawler swung his jet-propelled sword onto the base of the rapier's hilt.  
The rapier was driven into his back, causing a howl of pain despite Diamond Wall's lack of a mouth. Navy Brawler and Iron Rapier leaped back to gain distance. Diamond Wall staggered forward. As he lumbered forward, Iron Rapier turned to look at the stands; seeing Prussian Tyrant on his throne. His posture was akin to a barbarian king with the purple avatar's arms wrapped gently around his neck behind him. He clapped at the battle, "Bravo! That was truly entertaining! If you two weren't in Divine Sanctuary I'd have recruited you two instead!"  
Iron Rapier replied as she focused on the lumbering Diamond Wall, "How did you get into our school network? It should be impossible to Burst Link onto a secure network from outside."  
"We just used a backdoor."  
"A backdoor?"  
"Personally I don't like it when my entertainment talks too much."  
Navy Brawler snapped, "You haven't answered us yet!"  
"...and does it matter to me if I answered you?"  
"Whats that supposed to mean?"  
The purple avatar raised her head in response to the statement. Generally one would consider her appearance to be beautiful; coloured in various shades of purple with green gems on her chest, forearms, crown and shoulders. Long dark purple hair flowed down her back from under her crown. A long dress in a lighter shade of purple covered her legs.  
"That means that Tyrant-sama is not interested in answering your question."I didn't ask you!"  
"My name is not 'you', its Amethyst Queen."  
"I didn't..."  
Before Navy Brawler could finish his sentence, Diamond Wall charged into him dropping his health further. Navy Brawler flew backwards, flipping himself upright before landing, squatting as he did to absorb the shock of landing.  
He followed up with a leap forward, swinging his jet propelled sword in a clockwise arc. The blade made contact with Diamond Wall's head with enough force to slam him into the ground. This action dropped some health off in addition to the slow grinding caused by the rapier in his back.  
"Never would have guessed that your weakness is excessive blunt force."  
"So what Brawler? Makes no difference if you still lose!"

By this time Blaze Pyro had already melted through his icy prison, proceeding to hurl fireballs at Iron Rapier. However they were all evaded by the more agile Iron Rapier, her evasion resembled a forward moving dance that brought her closer to her opponent with each dodge. Eventually she was within striking range. Instantly she started a chain of stabbing attacks to build up her killer move meter.  
"Hey Diamond...help me out! She's too fast!"  
"Can't you see I'm in trouble too? This guy's attacks keep knocking me over!"  
Navy Brawler swung again, his sword chipping away a small piece of Diamond Wall's left arm. As Navy Brawler continued his relentless assault, Iron Rapier pressed her attack. Blaze Pyro manifested two swords from each of his palms and attempted to counterattack. This proved futile as Iron Rapier parried each strike. She persisted until she found an opening to use Pierce, driving her blade straight through his chest armour. Understanding the significance of this, he thrusts a blade towards her only to stab thin air as she dodged the feeble attack. Using her momentum, she spun to his left side, driving another sword through his armpit. She broke away from the spin, drawing a new pair of swords as she did so. However as she charged for another attack, Blaze Pyro threw a fireball. She dodged to the left. The fireball exploded throwing her straight into a column that subsequently collapsed. He laughed as her health dropped dramatically, leaving her health a quarter full.  
"So much for metal colours."  
"Good for you Pyro, now help me!"  
Diamond Wall staggered as each strike drove deeper, eventually his left arm came off at the shoulder. He feebly tried to throw another punch, this time with his remaining arm. This attack was dodged as Navy Brawler put distance between himself and Diamond Wall.

"You're pretty good Brawler-kun."

"Same to you Diamond, if you surrunder maybe I'll let you off easy."

"Hah, Tyrant-sama only accepts one thing in battle; absolute victory. Anything less than that...well lets just say the consequences are severe."

"You have a harsh master."

"No matter, I'm going to have to end this somehow..."

"Just what I was thinking."

Navy Brawler grinned as he and Diamond Wall activated their killer moves simultaneously, "Brawler Style: Gale Force Blade!"

"Diamond Spike!"

Navy Brawler held his sword with both hands, the blade expanded and exposing green internal circuitry. A blast of wind exploded from the blade with a loud roar. Diamond Wall's transformation though was more dramatic; spikes blasted through his diamond armor on his shoulders and forearms, blowing away pieces of diamond.

Diamond Wall charged forward towards Navy Brawler, his spiked shoulders facing forward while Navy Brawler stood his ground. Rushing forward, Diamond Wall's faceted body caused his body to sparkle as the light reflected off his body. He came closer and closer but Navy Brawler showed no fear, he did not flinch as Diamond Wall came ever closer. Then as Diamond Wall's shoulder spike was barely inches away from the tip of his sword, he twistd his sword and swung generating a strong gust of wind. Using the momentum of the swing, he brought it down onto the back of Diamond Wall's neck causing it to shatter causing Diamond Wall's health to drop to zero. However the shoulder spikes were also impaling Navy Brawler's chest and stomach dropping his health to zero as well.

"A kamikaze move...you bastard, you had no intention of dodging my charge at all..." Diamond Wall grunted as cracks began to crawl across his body, chunks of diamond broke off and fell to the stone ground.

"Well I knew there was no normal way to damage you without either an incredibly high piercing ability or excessive force, both of which I don't have. Also I just thought it'd be cool."

"'It'd look cool'? Thats the dumbest reason for a suicide move I have ever heard."

Diamond Wall laughed as the rest of his body disintegrated into diamond dust before dissolving into yellow streams of data.

Iron Rapier stood stunned as she saw Navy Brawler collaspe. However, despite still trying to grasp the fact that her partner was defeated, she still was able to maintain her stance against Blaze Pyro, though he was not doing the same.

"Diamond Wall is down? Impossible..."  
She used the opening caused by his momentary shock to pierce another blade through his chest. This increased the number of Rapier counters to three causing a panel to drop down with a button engraved with the name of a new attack: Pelting Hail.  
"Pelting Hail!"  
As she called her attack, she started a series of multiple thrusts and stabs. The attacks came in so fast that her arms and the swords they held dissolved into a blur. Like its namesake, the multiple small attacks on Blaze Pyro were like a relentless hail as they pelted away his health at an accelerated rate. As his health reached near zero, the relentless attack stopped. Taking this opportunity, Blaze Pyro threw a surge of fire at Iron Rapier. It did little damage but it served its purpose as a distraction. Iron Rapier backstepped and narrowly avoided a second gout of flames. The both of them faced off, Iron Rapier shifted to an attacking stance as she dashed forward, casually dodging the fireballs being flung towards her. Within seconds, her face was inches away from Blaze Pyro. Her sword was drawn back, ready to deal the finishing blow.  
Then, the timer ticked to zero.

The world soon flashed back to its normal colours, everyone resumed movement from their frozen positions. Everything continued as though the battle had never happened. As the teacher guided the kendo club through the practice swings, Ayumi thought back to her battle and how she and Navy Brawler lost to timeout. They were so close.

After the kendo club practice, the legion members gathered at a family restaurant. As they ordered dinner, they discussed the battle with Predatory Carnival and the outcome over a DirectLink hub.  
"Its fine...we win some we lose some."  
Ayumi knew that her Legion Master, Alabaster Master better known as Himoru Negishi, was a laid back person but to accept the loss of an opportunity like this? She was even more surprised at Kagama Gen's rather uncharacteristic reply.  
"Well I suppose Himoru is right, plus we did get something out of this."  
He paused as he thanked the waitress passing him his fish and chips before continuing, "At the very least our enemy has a name and a face. However I still don't understand what Predatory Carnival or their master is trying to achieve with the Vault."  
"Sorry to interupt, sempai, but what exactly is so important about the Vault?"  
"Thats the thing, we don't know."  
"So even you and the master have no idea whats there?"  
"More or less. However to be more exact we have no idea how to open it. However that is something we'll worry about when you reach level four."  
At this point, everyone's food had arrived at which point the conversation shifted to whatever they were eating.  
As Ayumi tucked her own fish and chips, she saw a new mail notification. Opening it, she saw a mail from Kagama. She blushed as she saw his name as the mail's originator.  
"Are you alright sempai? Your face seems really red"  
"I'm ok, the fish was just abit hot Takahashi-kun."  
Tenma Godou interjected with his own reassurance of Ayumi's health to Takahashi Haki, "Yeah, she won't be beaten by a measly fish!"

Everyone laughed at this statement. She opened the mail.

I heard about what happened in that battle from Tenma-san, you did really well despite losing. Don't let losing a duel get to you as it won't be the last time but you must use this loss as an opportunity to learn from it. There's also something I need to talk to you about later.

Ayumi was curious about what Kagama needed to tell her. She immediatly had several ideas what it might be before she decided to wait for it to happen. As Navy Brawler recounted the battle to Takahashi and Kizaki, making sure to exagerrate his own part in it while Kizaki would express disbelief at the entire account. Ayumi laughed as Tenma got comically angry at one of Kizaki's counters to his story.

After the dinner, everyone went their seperate ways to to either meet up with other friends or to head home. Ayumi was part of the latter group as she walked her bicycle together with Kagama, Himoru said that he had something else to do before going home since he lived next door to Kagama. They silently walked together, the only sound coming from passing cars. She realized how awkward it was walking next to a guy and not saying anything while Kagama was apparently busy with something based on his rapid hand gestures. She tried to break the silence by trying to say something before Kagama spoke first.

"I heard you held out pretty well against Diamond Wall and Blaze Pyro."

"I still lost the fight."

"The circumstances were unfavorable and the match-up was in their favor. You did very well considering all that Narajima-san."

"...but still."

"I know the feeling of losing is not pleasant but its like I've said before, this is not your first battle nor will it be your last. You'll win many battles but there will be losses as well and you must learn to cope with these feelings."

She smiled as Ayumi felt assured by Kagama's words however blunt and practical it was. She exhaled, "Kagama-sempai, have you lost your battles before?"

"Several times actually."

"I'd never imagine you were the type to lose at all. I mean you are level eight after all."

"All I can say is, it wasn't easy getting to this point. You can't even begin to imagine how much time I spent fighting and fighting since I started seven years ago."

"Wait...since you started seven years ago and time is accelerated a thousand times...that means your game time is seven thousand years?"

Kagama laughed at Ayumi exclamation, "If I was in the Unlimited Neutral Field continuosly, I do link out plus I have my social life to think about too. However the amount of time I've clocked inside is still worth several lifetimes."  
"Its hard to imagine spending years inside when its only been a few hours in reality."

"Yes Narajima-san, it is hard to imagine but it is tempting, the Unlimited Neutral Field. However you don't have to worry about that until you're level four. Until then, just work on getting stronger."

She smiled and nodded in agreement as they continued walking along the road, "So Kagama-sempai, how did you get Brain Burst?"  
"Lets just say that my case is abit...special."  
"Special?"  
"Lets just say that you'll learn about my circumstances when the time is right."

"Why can't you just tell me?"

"Don't feel like it."

"You're mean sempai..."

Kagama laughed. Ayumi realized that she had never seen Kagama smile and laugh like that before, basically it was a side of him that she thinks no one else has seen before. She decided to just smile and laugh along with him.

"I don't think she's that great Tenma-san."

"Come on Kizaki-chan, you've got to admit she's good."

Tenma, Kizaki and Takahashi were all walking through a park, crickets chirping serving as the only sound that can be heard other than their own voices.

"She's only level two and all she has is those swords right? Whats so great about stabbing your opponents?"

"Iron Rapier has a really awesome killer move system."

"So?"

"You're a hard girl to impress."

Kizaki turned to look at Tenma incredulously, "Anyway why are you so impressed with that sempai anyway? Rather though I'm curious about why sempai is so fascinated with her anyway."

"Probably has something to do with his sis...oops, shouldn't have said that."

"Said what Tenma-san?"

Takahashi immediately stepped between them, "Now now Kizaki-san, you shouldn't..."

"Takahashi-kun, stay out of this."

Takahashi meekly fell silent.

"Ok fine, I'm not really supposed to tell anybody this so promise me you won't tell anyone else. Also don't tell anyone I told you."

"Ok Tenma-san, I won't."

"Well, do you know about Anji-chan?"

"Yeah."

"Its only my guess but doesn't Narajima-san look alot like Anji-chan?"


	6. Login 05: Respite

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Author's Note: With the intro arc over, its time to start with the first proper story arc, 'Hail the Queen'. No battles in this chapter but there is some character development.

Login 05: Respite

Several weeks had passed since their first encounter with Predatory Carnival. Aside from the normal duels, there was no activity at all from Predatory Carnival which was all and good for Narajima Ayumi, who appreciated the drop in tempo as she was chatting with her classmates during lunch.

"Say Ayumi-chan..."

"What is it Nanami-chan?"

Ayumi turned to face a long brown haired bespectacled girl shorter than herself. She was holding a sausage with her chopsticks as she proceeded to ask her question, "Are you dating anyone?"

"What?! What kind of question is that?"  
"Well you have been getting love letters for awhile right?"  
Ayumi thought about the hundreds of mails professing their love for her from both male and female students from all years. She initially replied to each one individually though this got tiresome. Eventually Hideo Tarou, a classmate and her fellow legion member; Lemon Chameleon, created an app that will automatically reply back with one of ten pre-written replies if she left the message alone for a set amount of time. The mail will subsequently be deleted. It was impersonal but it has made managing her mail easier plus no one outside of the legion knows of the app.  
"Yeah..."  
Another classmate, a tall girl with short black hair she knew as Tana-chan, joined in the lunchtime banter.  
"Come on, there has to be someone. I mean Tanaka-san from the baseball club confessed to you last week..."  
"...and I told him that I appreciated him as a friend."  
"What? You rejected him? He's, like, the most eligible guy in the school."  
"Then you should go out with him Tana-chan."  
"Wah...I...I."  
Tana began to stutter as her embarassment made everyone laugh, forgetting the initial topic. The conversation was eventually returned to the original topic by Nanami, "Then what about that high-school sempai you've been hanging out with? Surely he's not just a 'friend'."  
"Well Kagama-sempai is...well he's..."

"A boyfriend? Ooo."

"No thats not it! You guys are mean."

The girls all laughed together.

...but he is a nice guy, kind, strong, intelligent..."  
"So you do like him? Then you should hurry up and confess!"  
"Confess? Isn't that jumping ahead abit?"

"Well aren't you worried that another girl might end up being your precious sempai's girlfriend?"

"Its not like I 'like' him in that way..."  
"So you do like him!"  
Ayumi sighed, "This is going nowhere..."  
"...but love-talk is what makes lunch fun. Anyway lets finish up so we can dive into the school network! The class president's birthday party is starting."  
"Takafuji-san's birthday is today?"  
"You forgot about it? Well thats rare."  
"Well alot happened yesterday..."  
By that, she thought to herself, I mean that marathon random duel session that lasted thirty matches. Although only more than thirty seconds had passed in reality, however she felt that she had spent hours grinding out the Burst Points she needed to safely reach level four. Then when she finally levelled up to level four, Tenma Godou and Kizaki Minami had an argument over what level bonus she should go for. This was ignoring the fact that Ayumi had her heart set on specializing purely on piercing.  
The group finished eating their bento. Tana packed her chopsticks, "So girls, are we ready to dive? The birthday party is being held at our class' online zone."

"Easy enough to get to, if we dive now we can make it there in time."

The girls voiced out the command to dive into the school network.

"Direct Link!"

The girls stepped off a raised platform into an area that resembled an Edo-period town. Ayumi's samurai avatar looked at two other net avatars; a bespectacled rabbit girl in an elaborate bright pink kimono with a sakura pattern, her blue obi sash was tied into a large bow behind her. Next to her was a short girl with absurdly high clogs dressed in a plain light blue short skirted kimono. Her blue hair reached down to the floor.  
"Seriously Tana-chan...are you still using that midget avatar?"  
"Whats wrong? Its cute."  
"Well Tana-chan, I can firstly say that you must have some kind of weird complex. I mean who creates a short avatar with tall clogs?"  
"Hey, nothing wrong with a little absurdity."  
"At least create something like Ayumi-chan's avatar: its cool, elegant and it even looks heroic."  
"Sure...but then it wouldn't be me anymore."  
Ayumi felt that now was the right time to remind the two girls why they were here in the first place, "Aren't we going to be late for Takafuji-san's birthday?"  
"You're right Ayumi-chan, lets hurry."  
The girls nodded as they dashed through the streets of the virtual town, passing avatars of various shapes, sizes and forms. Eventually they reached a building that resembled an Edo-era home with a courtyard that had several avatars milling around and a sign with their class on it. The girls stepped through the open gate, crossing the courtyard as several avatars greeted them. Sliding open the doors, they soon reached the main living area which was where their entire class was surrounding a cat-eared miko-avatar standing in front of an elaborate cake. She turned to face them, "Ayumi-chan, Tana-chan, Nanami-chan, all of you made it!"  
"Well we would be here sooner but we got side-tracked. Anyway, thats not important. Happy Birthday Takafuji-san!"  
"Thank you so much."  
There was much laughter and cheer as the party continued with the blowing of the candles and the giving of (virtual) presents. After the formalities were over, there was still enough time for everyone to chat amongst themselves. Small groups formed with their own conversation topics. Ayumi eventually found a chameleon in the corner of the room reading from a book floating at his eye level, "Hideo-san, is the party that boring?"  
"Ah, Narajima-san...its not but I'm reading this article. Here, it'll be easier if you read it yourself."  
Hideo Tarou pulled a page out of his book and flicked it into Ayumi's view. The page expanded into a newspaper article with a picture of Kizaki Hikari and a headline that reads 'Super Idol targeted by Super Stalker'.  
"Open the video link."  
Ayumi followed Hideo's instructions and opened the link at the bottom of the article. The link expanded into a window with a video of a news programme showing footage from a concert. A large group of security guards were chasing one person of indeterminate age and gender across the stage as a man escorted a woman she assumed was Kizaki Hikari off the stage. Ayumi failed to find anything remarkable other than Kizaki Hikari and the man the security guards can never seem to catch.  
Thats when she noticed it as he evaded every single attempt to grab him, as though he was dancing.

"You noticed it Narajima-san?"

"Yeah, the way he was dodging all those guards. Its almost like he could see how to avoid it...just like in Physical Burst, but I thought the acceleration only lasts three seconds? This is clearly more than three seconds."  
"...and thats the worrying part. If someone has discovered how to bypass Brain Burst's limiters it can mean one of several things..."  
Hideo looked around, taking note of how crowded the room was.  
"Lets continue this someplace quieter."

They left the room and went outside to the back of the main building. They could still hear the voices of their classmates celebrating the class president's birthday, but that was the only other thing of note.  
"Looks like this is quiet enough."  
"Ok...you were saying Hideo-san?"  
"Like I was saying Narajima-san, being able to bypass Acceleration's limiters can mean either one or a combination of several things. However it is most likely that we're either dealing with a super hacker who happens to be a stalker who is able to bypass an impenetrable piece of software, or someone who works for a super hacker and is a stalker."

"...and its not good either way."

"Exactly, thats why our legion master is calling for a meeting at his home server tonight nine pm. He'll be sending the password later."  
"Alright, but do you mind if I asked you a question?"  
"Go ahead Narajima-san."  
"Well why do we have to do anything if someone can hack Brain Burst? It shouldn't be something that affects us...right?"  
"Normally you would be correct but at this time we're under threat by Predatory Carnival. Thus we have to be careful especially when it comes to incidents like these since it could possibly be a trap."  
"Not sure if I got any of that..."  
Hideo smiled cryptically as he casually flicked his tongue.  
"Lets just say that you'd be surprised at the resources a Legion has at their disposal."

Ayumi lay down on her bed dressed in an over-sized grey t-shirt with blue spots and blue pants. She began thinking back to the past several weeks and how she has learned so much about acceleration, Brain Burst and her own Avatar. She smiled and blushed as she also remembered how Kagama Gen helped her.  
"Time really does fly when you're having fun huh..."  
She opened her home server and browsed through the photos she had taken over the past several weeks. The photos were a mix of herself and her friends including the kendo club and her Legion: Divine Sanctuary. She eventually reached a picture of the kendo club celebrating Kagama's high school kendo club clearing the preliminaries of a high school kendo tournament. In the photo, Kagama was raised on the shoulders of his teams while he raised his shinai in a victory pose. She smiled again as she closed the window and got comfortable.

"Direct Link."

She dived straight into the Hiromu home server, stepping out into an area that resembled a shinto shrine on top of a hill. The only other scenery she could see were clouds, as though it was high on a mountain top rather than a hill. The only other avatars other than Ayumi were a monk and a European knight. She recognized them immediatly.

"Kagama-sempai, Hiromu-sempai!"

The European knight greeted her, "Ah, Narajima-san...you're early."

"Well Kagama-sempai, I always believe that its better to wait for others rather than making other's wait for me."  
"That is a good attitude you know...someone can learn this from you."

Hiromu smirked as Kagama said that line while Kagama shot a glance to him, "I wonder who..."

Kagama shook his head, "Anyway thats beside the point, I believe Chameleon has brought you up to speed about the situation?"

"Something about a hacker stalker or something like that?"

"Close enough."

"Well Narajima-san, our concern is not about the stalker but rather what the stalker is actually able to do. I believe Chameleon also told you about his...'discovery'."

"The no-time-limit Physical Burst?"

"Yes...the implications of this are disturbing to be honest." Hiromu turned to look behind Ayumi's shoulders and smiled, "...and perfect timing, the rest of the team is here."

Ayumi turned to look behind her to see four familiar avatars walking towards them.

"Now I won't need to explain this more than once then."

Hiromu paced towards the shrine, walking up three steps before facing them, "Alright, I believe Chameleon has already given you all a brief outline of today's meeting. Namely, there's a few things that we need to find out about this stalker. Among these is whether this stalker is a Burst Linker and if he is; how he has bypassed Physical Burst's time limit."

Kagama turned to face the group as well, "In addition, we need to know if he is working for anybody or any Legion because if anybody has learned how to hack Brain Burst, it can have dire consequences."  
Tenma Godou raised a skeptical eyebrow, "'Dire consequences'? Aren't you exagerrating abit? What's so bad about this guy accelerating non-stop?"  
"Are you really that dumb?"  
Kizaki Minami's condescending look, the exact look she was giving Tenma, was usually enough to reduce most men into subservience. However this seemed to be having the opposite effect on Tenma, making him more aggressive, "What do you mean by that?"  
"What I mean, dummy, is that the fact we can even accelerate is itself an advantage with the time limit. If you remove the time limit, you can do anything! Achieve anything! Even commit any crime!"  
Kagama nodded, "Kizaki-san sums it up nicely. Brain Burst, on its own, has a high potential for abuse. With the removal of the time limit, as Kizaki-san puts it, you can do anything. Even time becomes trivialized. Without the limiters..."  
"Ok...so its a bad thing?"  
"Yes Tenma-san, it is bad. Also even if its patched over, its possible that this hacker will find another way to remove the limiter. In addition, if he displays his abilities so publicly it'll eventually draw unwanted attention to the Brain Burst app."  
Everyone signalled their agreement with grave silence. A moment later, Hiromu injected his own concern,"However the thing that worries me more is why we're even aware of this."  
"Are you saying its a trap?"  
"Whether it is a trap or not we still need to investigate this. This is why I'm putting Hideo-san, Narajima-san and Kizaki-san on this."  
Tenma immediatly flared up, "Hey, why not me? I can go and beat what we need out of him. Plus we'd be doing society a favor too."  
Kagama sighed, "Tenma-san, that is exactly why I'm not putting you on this mission."

"What?!"

"You're too impulsive and all you want is a fight. This mission calls for abit of ...delicacy."  
At this statement, Tenma fell silent. His look of defiance, if it could make a sound, said otherwise which Kagama ignored as he continued, "Anyway I managed to call in a few favours, you three will be getting tickets for the Kizaki Hikari Forever concerts next weekend starting Friday night. These are valid for the weekend concerts covering Friday, Saturday and Sunday. These also include backstage passes." Takahashi Haki who was silent with a look of excitement, finally spoke, "Kagama-sempai got tickets AND backstage passes to a Kizaki Hikari concert? Tickets alone are reserved at least a year in advance and backstage passes are impossible to get without connections."  
"Well, it wasn't easy that much I'll say. Anyway I'm entrusting you with a different job?"  
"A different job?"  
"I need you to monitor Kizaki Hikari."

"What?! You want me to..."

"I have been hearing certain rumors concerning the beloved idol that I want to confirm."  
"What kind of rumors? I never knew that you were into celebrity gossip."  
"I'm not and as for the rumors; it has been circulating around the Burst Linkers in the Kanagawa prefecture that Kizaki Hikari is a Burst Linker and that her colour is purple."  
Tenma interjected with a question, "Why not ask Kizaki-san?"  
"I did. She has been out of touch with her sister for four years so its unreasonable for her to know anything. Now then...anymore questions?"

Ayumi watched the large throngs of people in front of her in the queue waiting to enter the stadium on a warm Friday night. Next to her, Kizaki crossed her arms with a frustrated look on her face though she remained silent. Hideo was right behind them making several gestures. Kagama Gen's mother held a spot in the queue until the group could get out of school and change before taking over.  
Ayumi became uncomfortable with the silence from Kizaki, "So Kizaki-san..."

"Narajima-san, what's your deal?"

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is your relationship with Kagama-sempai. Whats your relationship with him? Are you dating him?"

"What? Dating? I'm not dating Gen."

"Gen? Since when are you on a first name basis with sempai?"

"Rather why are you so interested? Are you in love with sempai?"

"I'm not, I was just wondering why he's so interested in you."

Hideo soon stepped between them, "That's enough, both of you."

However Kizaki ignored him, "I bet he only gave you his Brain Burst installation because you look like Anji..."

"Kizaki-san, you know that topic is off-limits."

Kizaki sighed, finally calming down and going silent. Hideo gave her a disappointed look before turning to face Ayumi, "Well its crowded and noisy and everyone is tense and irritated. So lets just all calm down. Ayumi and I will get some food, you want anything Kizaki-san?"

"Just a bento, your choice."

Hideo replied back, "Ok then, I'll get you something nice."

"Hm...whatever..."

Hideo Tarou's face immediatly began to show a combination of doubt and concern as he walked with Ayumi away from the crowd towards the main street. Ayumi noted that this was the first time she was seeing such a complicated expression on the normally calm Hideo. Then suddenly, he spoke up, "I should apologize for Kizaki-san since it's unlikely she'll do it herself."

"Blame her for what?"

"For that outburst. You could say that she is abit protective of Kagama-sempai..."

"Protective of him?"

The pair stopped at a traffic crossing, calmly continuing the conversation while waiting for the lights to change, "Kizaki-san has known Kagama-sempai and his younger sister for several years, ever since they were all in elementary school..."

"Wait...Kagama-sempai has a younger sister?"

"'Had' is more accurate. She...well she was involved in an accident seven years ago..."  
"Thats... I'm sorry..."  
"I'm not the one you should apologize to and even then, I think Kagama -sempai would say not to worry about it."  
"You think so?"  
The traffic light eventually changed from a red man to a green man allowing them to cross the road.  
"Call it a hunch."  
"Anyway, sempai's sister's name is Anji?"  
"I guess you must have heard and you are correct."  
"Then what was it about me looking like Anji-san?"  
"I'm not really supposed to tell you..."  
Hideo hesitated, both of them stopping after the crossing. She gave a determined look that said that she was ready for whatever he was reluctant to say. He sighed, "Ok, while you weren't around all of us, Kizaki-san included, concluded that you looked exactly like Anji-chan...or at least how she would look if she was still alive now."

There was an awkward silence as she let the fact sink in. The fact that she resembled the loved one of her sempai. She sighed.

"Well it looks like the convenience store is over there. What did Kizaki-san say she wanted?"

"She didn't say anything in particular."

Hideo rubbed his chin in contemplation as they entered the store.

"Kizaki-san, there's someone here to see you. Says to tell you that 'Orbit is here to see the Queen.'...whatever that means."

Kizaki Hikari looked towards the door of her dressing room where a man in his twenties wearing a black Kizaki Hikari Forever t-shirt with the word 'crew' on the back stood, holding the door ajar. Hikari's manager, a bald man in his mid-thirties dressed in a black suit with a blue tie, stood up from the sofa, "Just tell him to..."  
"Its ok, just let him in."  
"Hikari-chan?"

"Well he's supposed to meet me as a prize for an idol forum contest and that he's supposed to say that phrase as a password. Sorry I forgot to tell you Manager-san."

"I suppose its ok since you're so cute."

"Could I also ask another favor Manager-san. Could I be alone with him for a while?"

"Are you sure?"

Hikari held her hands together as though praying that he will accede to her request, "Pretty please?"

"I guess thats ok too...alright, bring that guy in then tell the technical crew to finish the prep work on the pyrotechnics."

The crew member nodded as he opened the door further to allow a teenage male wearing jeans and a blue hoodie with the hood up. After he enters the room; the manager and crew member both left the room, closing the door behind them.

"I never thought that I will ever hear the words 'pretty please' coming from the mouth of the Queen."

"Shut up Orbit-kun. I have to maintain this disgustingly sweet image against my will you know. On top of that I have disgusting otakus fawning over me like rabid dogs. Besides, why the hell are you here you hikikomori?"

"Your fans will be heartbroken if they see that their beloved idol is so foul mouthed and rude."

"Just answer the question disgusting hikikomori."

"I'm just here to ensure that the experiment goes smoothly."

"Don't you have Cardinal for that?"

"This experiment is too important to leave unattended since you couldn't be bothered to keep your lackey under control."

"Violet Wizard is cute like that."

"Cute? I don't think its 'cute' to draw so much attention. Even if no one knows about the experiment, I don't want to risk anyone even having an inkling of whats going on."

"You're way too serious Orbit-kun. You should relax and enjoy my concert."

"Whatever. I'll take my leave but I will be observing."

Hikari frowned as the teenager she knew as Twilight Orbit left the dressing room. It eventually became a scowl, "Its not like I want to work with you, you hikikomori. Did you hear what the hikikomori said, Mamoru-kun."

A ten year-old boy stepped out from behind a screen, "Of course Hikari-Onee-sama. Mamoru will do his best!"

"Thats a good boy. I'll give you an ice-cream later ok?"

"Ok!"

Hikari got up and straightened her outfit as a crew member opened the door, "Kizaki-san, we're starting in five."

"Alright...I'll be right there!"


	7. Login 06: Confrontation

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Author's Note: I decided to give Cardinal Derringer the ability to have guns in her limbs mostly because her namesake, Derringer, refers to any small pocket pistol which is generally concealed. Hence my inspiration for her Hidden Barrel ability. Its important to note that each limb is a different type of firearm (eg. the right leg is a hidden shotgun)

Login 06: Confrontation

Iron Rapier dodged several tentacles attempting to grab her with the nimble grace of a gymnast, her blades parrying any that could not be avoided. Her opponent was a duel avatar named Slime Octopus. As his name implied, he was a vaguely anthromorphized octopus seemingly made of slime. Tentacles formed the lower half of his face and his vague five-fingered hands were composed of five tentacles. His hand tentacles lashed out to spear her again.  
She leaped out of the slimy spear's path causing it to break the column behind her. She landed on it's remains, "You're really strong for someone called slime."  
"I take that as a compliment."  
Iron Rapier dodged another tentacle. However this action brought her into the striking zone of another tentacle, this one going through the right half of her chest armor and exiting the other side.  
She ignored the pain and use her swords to block another wave of tentacles. She then cut off the tentacle skewering her, causing the amputated limb to dissolve into a clear liquid.  
"Now I have slime all over me...argh!"  
She howled in pain as plumes of steam rose from where the tentacle's liquid landed on her.  
"Not immune to corrosion eh, this will be easy!"  
"Not if I can help it!"  
As Slime Octopus flung globs of acid slime at Iron Rapier, the missed globs burning holes into the mossy ground, she progressively moved forward in a zig-zag manner. Eventually she leaped over him, driving a sword into his shoulder, the other end of the blade emerging through his armpit. As she landed, she spun around to face her opponent, "Heavy Strike!"

She cleaved Slime Octopus into half, though to her surprise his health only dropped by a quarter.

"That still feels weird even after having this ability for three levels..."

His split halves, still standing, began to rapidly merge together. Iron Rapier rapidly began multiple slashes, each slash being faster than the last and breaking up Slime Octopus. However, he soon overcame the speed of the attacks and was soon whole again.

"Now lets see you try that again."

"I shall."

Iron Rapier dashed in, driving three swords, one after the other into his body. He grunted in pain as Iron Rapier called the name of her special attack, "Pelting Hail!"

The flurry of stabs stirred his body, breaking it down and sending globules flying with each stab bringing his health down to zero.

The world flashed back to its original colours as Hideo Tarou and Narajima Ayumi returned from the convenience store carrying two plastic bags, one carried three bento boxes and the other contained drinks.

"How're you holding Kizaki-san."

"I'm ok, you still have about fifteen minutes before the concert starts."

"...and the matching lists?"

"Still nothing, just some random duels but nothing significant or related."  
"Anyway Kizaki-san, just pick out what you want. We'll take what's left."  
"Alright then...I'll take the chicken and octopus then."  
Everyone soon split their chopsticks and got ready for their dinner.  
"Itadakimasu!"

Hideo turned to look at Ayumi, "So I heard that the kendo club is having a selection next week for the prefecture level tournament."  
"Yeah. The competition is pretty tough since its also open to the first years."  
"I remember Tenma-san getting excited about that."  
"Despite how he is, he is good. He just needs more patience."  
Kizaki joined in, "Well that's pretty much Tenma-san...all brawn and no brain."  
The whole group laughed at the statement, knowing that it was true. Hideo was the first to calm down, "To be fair to Tenma-san; his aggressiveness does balance out Takahashi-san's passiveness."  
"Speaking of Haki-kun...what is his avatar's ability?"  
"What do you mean Kizaki-san?"  
"Well I've never actually seen any of his duels."  
"Hmm...well if I recall correctly, Takahashi-san's stat set-up is quite similar to Green Grande."  
"So he has nigh invulnerable defenses?"  
"From what I've seen. In fact usually the duels I've seen him fight and win, usually the wins are by time-out."  
Ayumi added her own question, "But doesn't a win by time-out actually require the winner to do some damage?"  
"Well apparently he just depends on his first strike and shields the rest of the way."  
"Thats really inefficient."  
"But it works, Kizaki-san."  
She shrugged as she took a swig out of a bottle. Hideo continued, "This was pretty much how Green Grandee reached level nine. In fact he is one of the few Burst Linkers with zero losses."  
Ayumi nearly choked on her drink, "He must be an incredible fighter to maintain a record like that."  
"Thats the thing, like we've discussed earlier he just simply braced himself. His defence is so high that a hold out strategy is actually viable. Hence he has technically never lost."  
"Thats just incredible."  
Kizaki shook her head, "Monstrous, Narajima-san, monstrous is a better word to describe someone who is a King of Pure Colour. Even World's End, someone who is called despicable by many and hated by just as many, is still feared and respected because of the fact she was and still is a King."  
"World's End?"  
"Also known as the traitor and enemy of Accel World, Black Lotus..."  
Everyone was solemn as an usher announced through a large virtual sign that the stadium was open for seating, much to joy of the fairly large group of Kizatakus.  
"Its just like onee-sama to snare perverts and otakus like them."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Its better if you didn't know Narajima-san..."  
Ayumi was puzzled by that statement as they shuffled together with the crowd.

Haki peeked from behind a column, tracking the back of a figure in a hoodie. He wondered what made him decide to follow this stranger. Was it because he just walked into the most exclusive backstage area as though he owned it? Was it because the phrase he just said let him into an idol's dressing room? Or was it because they referred to each other by strange nicknames?  
He decided that it was a combination of these factors as he continued stalking him.  
As he followed him around a corner, the world froze turning blue. Before he knew it, Haki was a small-built, green robot carrying two rectangular shields as large as himself, one on each arm. He took note of his surroundings, noting that the service hall he had turned into had turned into a moss covered cave. A cloaked figure stood in front him, his hood concealed his facial features only exposing four green glowing eyes. His name plate read Twilight Orbit.  
"Emerald Bulwark...I knew someone was following me but a Burst Linker...no matter. I'll just defeat you and be on my way."  
"You don't want to know why I'm following you?"  
"Whatever your reasons or purpose, it does not matter to me..."  
Quickly, Emerald Bulwark held up his shields as Twilight Orbit drew out a handgun from inside his purple cloak.  
"Satellite Laser."  
Emerald Bulwark braced himself as he heard a hum. However it was not coming from the handgun. It was coming from above him. From the laser melting through the cave ceiling at an incredible speed.

Ayumi, Hideo and Kizaki sat down at their gallery seats, looking down at the crowds streaming into their seats.

"This reminds of that time we went hunting for Enemies and we were nearly overrun by a swarm of them..."

Kizaki and Ayumi raised their eyebrows, speaking almost simultaenously, "We?"

"This was before you guys joined Divine Sanctuary."

Ayumi responded, "Oh...so how long were you with Divine Sanctuary?"

"About three years, even though it feels way longer than that."

"I guess acceleration can do age someone..."

"I agree with you Narajima-san, especially in the Unlimited Neutral Field...speaking of which we should take you there one day."  
He paused as the stadium darkened, signalling the concert was starting, " Ah...looks like its starting. keep a lookout for anything unusual. Narajima-san, accelerate and look through the matching list for any other Burst Linkers."  
"On it. Burst Link!"  
As the world froze, she scrolled through the matching list. She saw five names, only three were familiar. Before she could Burst Out, her surroundings changed.  
Before she knew it, she stood on a metallic platform overlooking a pool of molten metal, catwalks and platforms. Iron Rapier drew her swords as she started looking for her opponent, Cardinal Derringer.  
"Derringer! Where are you! Come out!"  
She heard a clatter of footsteps following a gunshot. Iron Rapier dodged the shot, which impacted the wall behind where she stood mere microseconds ago, and gave chase to a red figure.  
"Stop! Cardinal!"  
She leapt down onto a catwalk and gave chase, her footsteps clattering against the catwalk. Another gunshot rang out as she stepped onto a crossroad. In front of her was a red female figure dual-wielding short-barreled handguns.  
"Iron Rapier, I have you where I want you!"  
Iron Rapier was puzzled by the statement until Cardinal Derringer fired into the catwalk in front of Iron Rapier, clearly missing.  
"Your aim is terrible."  
"Not really. For someone with the title Piercing Storm you sure don't pay attention."  
At that moment, the catwalk gave way. The support column that held the platform was shot through causing to collapse, pulling the catwalk with it. Iron Rapier was able to leap away in time.  
As soon as she landed, Iron Rapier charged forward with both her swords positioned akin to a bull's horns. Cardinal Derringer held her handguns, crossing them to defend herself. However this action proved futile as the a sword went through the handguns and into her left shoulder, pinning her weapons. She suppressed her cry of pain, reducing it to a gasp.  
"Those are alot sharper then I expected..."  
A roundhouse kick to the right side of her head sent her flying to a platform some distance away. Iron Rapier leaped after her as Cardinal Derringer's landing warped the metal platform. Standing infront of the damaged Cardinal Derringer, Iron Rapier pointed her sword, "Cardinal, will you stop running and answer my questions?"  
"My legs are in no condition to run away...but they can still do this! Hidden Barrel: Right Leg!"

Cardinal Derringer aimed her crumbling leg at Iron Rapier, folding her foot down to expose a gun barrel.

"I'm surprised, I would never have expected to meet someone who could last more than one Satellite Laser. Its a pity you couldn't follow through."  
Haki was on his knees in shock as Twilight Orbit's Burst Linker calmly walked away. Haki had learned nothing from this person except how overwhelming Twilight Orbit's power was. Haki raised his hand feebly hoping to stop him with some imaginary power.  
"Stop...are you with Predatory Carnival?"  
"Would it matter if I was?"  
Haki remained silent as he stopped and turned his head back, "Even if Tyrant-sama respects your Legion for some inconcievable reason. However I will not hesitate to destroy your Legion if you hinder Tyrant-sama's goal."  
"Goal? What is your goal?"  
"We wish to Accelerate the world!"  
"Accelerate the world?"  
"Tyrant-sama wants to share the power of acceleration with everyone with a Neuro Linker in the world regardless of status. Of wealth. Of fame."  
"That would mean that..."  
Suddenly, Haki heatd footsteps along with a beam of light perprndicular to the service corridor coming around revealing itself to be a middle-aged security guard with a torch, "Who's there? Whoever you are, you aren't allowed here unless you have a pass!"  
Haki turned to find that Twilight Orbit's Burst Linker was no longer there.  
"Well? Where's your pass?"  
"I do have it on."  
"I don't see it."  
"Did you turn on your Neuro Linker ojisan?"  
"I'm not old enough to be called oji-san! And it is on...I think."  
"Press the green button."  
The security guard press a prominent green button on the device around his neck, "Oh...ok sorry to have bothered you. I can never understand this thing."  
"Its ok!"  
As the security guard walked off to resume his patrol, Haki opened up his email app and promptly sent a quick report...

Kagama Gen, known as Ebon Knight by most Burst Linkers, was drenched in sweat. Even his hakama was soaked in sweat as he packed his shinai, eager to hit the showers after a long training session. However, that had to be delayed as Kagama noticed a new message, opening it with a swipe of his hand. Carrying his bag, he frowned as he read Haki's message. As soon as he was done reading it, he opened a call to Hiromu.  
"Hiromu-san, its me."  
"Ah Gen-kun, whats up?"  
"Takahashi-san's mail is what's up."  
"So you're worried about that?"  
"Concerned is a more accurate word to use."  
"Anyway I'm sure Chameleon can handle the situation for now."  
"If what Takahashi is saying is true, then this might be beyond what Chameleon can handle."  
"You should have faith in him, if we intervene too soon it might frighten Queen off."  
"Alright, but I'm still monitoring the situation."  
"You're worried about her aren't you?"  
"Narajima-san?"  
"I'm talking about Amethyts Queen actually but I can see how worried you are about Narajima-san."

"That has nothing to do with this..."

"Well if thats what you say Kagama-kun."

Kagama sighed as he entered the changing room, "Anyway we'll continue this discussion later and see if Chameleon has found out anything else."

"I suppose if you say so."

"You're too laidback you know."

"Thats because I have faith in the team I have chosen."

Cardinal Derringer staggered along the catwalk, supporting herself on the railing as she periodically shot back at Iron Rapier with her handgun. All of the shots were dodged. Cardinal Derringer breathed heavily, forcing herself along on her shattered left leg as the stump of her right leg swung uselessly, her Hidden Barrel attack having failed earlier resulting in her right leg being sliced clean off.

"Give up Cardinal Derringer, you're in no shape to fight back. You'll tell me what I want to know."

"Ok fine, I admit it, I lost. What do you want to know?"

"You're just going to give up like that?"

"Of course, look at me. I'm in no shape to fight back at all...Hidden Barrel: Left Arm!"

She aimed her left arm and swung it up and back exposing a barrel that extended out. The revolver chamber in her bicep rotated to chamber a round before firing a mortar. The mortar flew and exploded sqaurely in the stunned Iron Rapier's chest sending her flying back. As she flew, she did a backflip, landing on her sliding back. Cardinal Derringer laughed, "Like I'd ever tell you anything about what we're planning."

"You..."

Cardinal Derringer laughed as the counter clicked down to zero.

Ayumi blinked as the world reverted to normal. Once again, they have not learned anything about Predatory Carnival beyond the obvious. Ayumi sighed at the thought that they had still lost even though she had won the fight. Hideo looked at her from his seat with a concerned look on his face, "You got caught up in a duel?"

"Yeah. With Cardinal Derringer."

Kizaki immediatly perked up just as the first song started, "How did it go?"

"I won but I didn't learn anything."

"Wow, she sure seems to be the type of girl who likes to keep her secrets."

Hideo exhaled, "That seems to be the case Kizaki-san. If we want to get any information about Predatory Carnival, I don't think we're getting anything out of her. So don't get too discouraged."

Ayumi smiled at the statement, "I guess you're right."

Hideo returned the smile, "If you think so Narajima-san, then we should enjoy the rest of the concert. We have two more nights to figure it out. Don't worry."

She decided to follow Hideo's advice as she leaned back and relaxed, enjoying the rest of the concert. However she couldn't help but feel bothered by how little she learned from that battle, or rather she was bothered by how many questions each encounter raises. What bothered her even more was how familiar Cardinal Derringer's voice, even though the voice she was familiar with would never say the uncharacteristic things that Cardinal Derringer had said. She shook the thought out of her as she relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the concert.

Cardinal Derringer disconnected from the Global Net, still feeling a dull numbness in her right leg where it was sliced of in the duel. She wondered why she kept getting damaged like that nearly every battle despite the fact that she did not enjoy the pain. Maybe its because she was never any good at fighting games. She sighed again as the concert moved onto a more techno piece.

"Yeah I'm fine Hana-chan. Just thinking about the test we're having on Monday."  
"Its not like you to worry about tests. Is it boy trouble?"  
"Its nothing like that..."  
Yeah right, she thought. In the past she would have been excited that she had a secret, something that made her special because only she knew of it. However now she just felt burdened and tired maintaining her double life. She sighed.

"Then what is it? Come on tell me!"

"Its a secret."

Takeno Chiyu smiled weakly as she said that statement, realizing how hollow it sounded coming from her. Quietly, she made a gesture to open a new unread mail from a sender simply named T.O. She frowned as she instantly knew who it was. Twilight Orbit was, to her knowledge and as Amethyst Queen put it, a hikkikomori. Namely, he was a shut-in most of the time and was supposedly mildly paranoid to the point to never using the same mail address for more than a week. Usually he would set up a temporary account and tell whoever needed to know his mail.

She opened the message and skimmed through it, the message simply asking if Divine Sanctuary knew anything specific based on her duel with Iron Rapier. She replied back with a simple 'no'. Almost immediatly she received a reply.

'If they are unaware of the experiment beyond the fact that there is an experiment, then we can proceed to Phase 2 of the experiment.'


	8. Login 07: Experiment

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

Author's Note: Apologies for how long this took, the delay is mostly due to work picking up again and this will probably affect the frequency of new chapters. Will try my best to get chapters out as soon as possible!

Login 07: Experiment

Ayumi looked at the clock at the corner of her view, noting how early it was as the sun was just rising. The sunlight streamed in through her window as she remained on her bed, she opened her mail and read the mail from her senior in highschool; Kagama Gen. The mail that gave her instructions to log into the Unlimited Neutral Field in exactly ten minutes as well as how to go into the Unlimited Neutral Field. She was both excited and curious. Excited because this was the firstGener she would be going up to the Unlimited Neutral Field and going to her Legion's headquarters. Curious because of the circumstances since Hideo mentioned that he had messaged Hiromu Negishi, known as Alabaster Master the Legion Master of Divine Sanctuary, her Legion. Despite her nervousness, she still said the command that was thought to her. The key to entering the infinite field of the Unlimited Neutral Field.

"Unlimited Burst."

Her room dissolved away into a mossy cave with the same dimensions as her room, water streamed down one wall while mechanical insects crawled in and out of various crevices. As Iron Rapier shook off a metal centipede that landed on, she was greeted by a familiar black armored avatar.

"Iron Rapier? Looks like you managed to figure out how to go up the Unlimited Neutral Field perfectly fine. I was worried I'd have to wait here for a few months."

"Your instructions were pretty direct sempai."

"Well, Hiromu-san wanted to do it but I was worried he'd get side-tracked so I sent it out instead..."

"Anyway sempai how did you figure where I stayed?"

"Lets just say before I gave you the Brain Burst install, we did a fair bit of research on you. Your address was also quite easy to get."

"You really have no delicacy sempai."

"Whats that supposed to mean Narajima-san?"

"I mean looking up a girl's home address like that...you're supposed to ask the girl directly you know."

"I think Hiromu-san said the same thing."

"Then he has a good point."

"Wait, are you actually..."

"Anyway I suppose we should get going. We are going to the Monastary right?"

"Yes we are, its about time you saw our Legion Fortress."

"Legion Fortress?"

"I'll explain as we walk there. Everything may be a thousand times faster but time still flows at the same rate."

Iron Rapier nodded as she followed Ebon Knight out of the cave, immediatly entering a dense forest. Following a path through the forest Iron Rapier was in awe at the scenery.

"This is amazing..."

"Thats what I thought too the first time I came into the Unlimite Neutral Field. This field, unlike the fields you've already experienced during duels, the UNF is truly infinite with no limits. There are even some who believe that it extends to outer space."

Iron Rapier was amazed at the statement, she had also heard stories of the flying silver avatar, Silver Crow and the ICBM, Sky Raker and had the same awe and amazement when she saw videos of their unbelievable fights. Essentially they were the only avatars who could boast of claiming air superiority, although only Silver Crow was the only avatar who could fly by definition.

"Outer space..."

"Like I said, its just a rumor. Heck there isn't even any zero gravity fields yet so I can't imagine how outer space would be generated. If they could do that though it'll be a new extreme for Brain Burst."

"Well, the creator has already gone so far as to create a game client that was capable of hacking nearby cameras just to generate an accurate duel map. I wouldn't be surprised if whoever the creator is, he would be able to hack some spy satellite just to create an outer space field."

As they walked through the forest, they heard a low roar followed by several explosions and a low whining sound.

"Sempai, what was that?"

"Probably Ruby Princess, she did say she was practicing her aim on Enemies."

"Then we should see her. I'm curious about the Enemy too."

"Well the Enemy are just NPC monsters generated by the game as an alternative to hunting down other players."

"Really? Then why doesn't everyone just kill Enemies and not each other?"

"Because each Enemy kill only gives ten burst points and they don't spawn often enough for it to be significant. In addition most Enemies that do spawn are insanely strong and can't be killed alone."

"So its not worth the effort?"

"Yes, in Kanagawa because of this problem and because of how lawless it gets here, unlike Tokyo players are actively hunted by roving bands of Burst Linkers after Burst Points."

They continued towards the direction of the noise, eventually reaching a clearing. Ruby Princess stood to their right carrying a cannon that was connected to a large backpack. The cannon's barrel was easily about five meters long with openings at regular intervals. A Burst of orange energy was fired from the barrel directed towards a large six-legged fox creature which Iron Rapier took to be the Enemy.

The Enemies' jaws were being resisted by a single blue avatar.

"Ruby, is that Navy Brawler tanking the Enemy?"

Ruby Princess turned to face the duo, still maintaining her cannon's aim, "Yeah, I needed him to tank that Enemy and hold it there while I aimed."

"So basically he's the bait."

"Pretty much Ebon-san."

She fired off a shot of green energy that went wide, going into the forest to the left instead. Navy Brawler pushed the monster back, giving him only enough time to verify the obvious, "Its way off!"

"I know that!"

"If you know that then just blast it away with your Hurricane!"

"Then how am I supposed to practice my aim?"

"Practice it without me tanking the damn Enemy! Besides why the hell does the target have to be an Enemy anyway!"

As they began arguing over whether the Enemy should even be used at the target for target practice in the first place, Iron Rapier began to quietly giggle. Then she heard a loud click as Ebon Knight aimed his lance, "Ebon Charge!"

Before she knew it, he was flying through the Enemy in a blazing toranado of energy. The Enemy completely disappeared in a stream of data as Navy Brawler stood in awe.

"Ruby Princess, I agree with Navy Brawler that there are better things to use for target practice. However we can discuss that another time. Master wants to have a discussion."

"About what?" Navy Brawler cocked his head to one side as he sheathed his sword onto his back.

"You'll know when we get there."

"Is that the Monastery?"

Iron Rapier indicated to the large fortress on top of the hill, a flags and banners with the Legion logo. Ebon Knight nodded as they approached a colossal metal gate, holding up a crystal that glowed briefly before the gates slid open a crack, just enough for them to comfortably walk through. Iron Rapier noted this.

"What was that sempai?"

"Oh this? Its an Access Crystal thats given to Legion members to access their Legion's Fortress."

"Don't think I've ever heard of Legion Fortresses."

"Understanderble. Legion Fortresses are a part of Brain Burst that isn't that well known for several reasons..."

Ebon Knight guided the group up a flight of steps as he continued his explanation, "One of them is that the fortresses themselves are extremely rare, part of an abandoned concept for large scale warfare. Lets just say that the game's population and concentration never got to the point where this was viable. Hence this feature was more or less forgotten."  
The group entered a large circular area, Iron Rapier stood in awe of the massive holograms of the Seven Kings of Pure Colour that ringed it. Above them was a floating orb, which they left behind as they entered a cavernous hallway.  
"So sempai, if the Legion Fortresses are so rare how did we get the Monastery?"

"Long story but basically, we've been controlling the Monastery since the day we discovered that its actually where Alabaster's house was..."

Before he could continue, a blue armored avatar approached him. Greeting Ebon Knight with a salute, "Lord Knight, I have returned from my mission."

"You mean your kendo tournament in Tokyo, Cerulean Warrior?"

"A training mission Lord Knight. I also had the benefit of encountering several interesting Avatars, Silver Crow included."

"I would love to hear that tale but we're on the way to meet the master."

"Understood Lord Knight. I shall take my leave then."

Cerulean Warrior bowed then walked towards Navy Brawler, "Brawler-kun, how is your training going?"  
"Sensei, its going fine sensei."  
Ruby Princess chuckled, "If you consider losing to a diamond man...hey!"  
Navy Brawler quickly stopped her, muffling the rest of Ruby Princess' words as he continued to speak, "...an impossible situation was what she was going to say."  
Cerulean Warrior laughed, "Well lets keep it that way Brawler-kun."  
He bowed one last time as he made his way in the opposite direction. There was a moment of silence until Navy Brawler finally released a very angry Ruby Princess.  
"What was that for?!"  
"You were spouting off to sensei."  
"Oh come on, can't you take a joke?"  
"No one jokes to Sensei!"  
"Well Ceru-san seems to have a better sense of humor than you ever will."  
"What?!"  
Ebon Knight rubbed his brows as he sighed, " Seriously, the both of you have to learn to stop fighting like small children."

Both Ruby Princess and Navy Brawler, in near unison, retorted, "We're not fighting!"

"Is that seriously the only time you two stop fighting?"

Again, they replied in unison, "Urm...hey stop copying me!"

They stopped as they could sense that, if his Avatar had a face he would be scowling.

Eventually, they reached an open circular balcony. Iron Rapier was surprised at the excellent view that the balcony provided, a view that seemed to extend endlessly. The only other duel avatar on the balcony aside from the group was a white monk-like avatar.

"Ah, looks like all of you are just in time."

"For what?"

"Why for that."

Alabaster Master gestured towards the horizon where a thin beam of stretched out, eventually lighting up the entire field as the sun rose up above the horizon. Alabaster Master crossed his arms contemplatively, "This world is amazing don't you all think so?"  
Everyone remained quiet, understanding that their Legion master was going into a rhetorical speech, "...and it because of this world that I don't agree with Predatory Carnival's goal. The goal of accelerating the world."  
Everyone met the statement with a confused silence.  
"Ok, maybe I should explain."  
Ebon Knight held up his hand to interrupt, "This has something to do with Emerald Bulwark?"  
"Emerald Bulwark? Did something happen to him?"  
"Well Rapier-san, apparently he was defeated by a high ranking member of Predatory Carnival called Twilight Orbit."

Navy Brawler cocked his head, "What does that have to do with this?"

"My concern is his current condition. Although he is physically unharmed...he still feels the after effects of his duel. Namely, the intense pain attributed to critical damage."

"But doesn't that normally wear off after an hour?"

"Yes Princess-san, in normal cases it does. However its been nearly twelve hours and he still feels an intense pain. This can mean several things; Emerald Bulwark is faking it which is unlikely, and he has no reason to anyway. Another possibility is that Twilight Orbit has figured out how to increase the pain threshold or worse, removed the pain limiter entirely."  
Iron Rapier was shocked. Shocked that anyone had the ability to hack an impenetrable piece of software like Brain Burst, moreso to the point that a built-in safety feature could be disabled. She was also shocked that there was a Burst Linker who would use something like this as a weapon. Navy Brawler did not share her sentiments, "So you just feel more pain than normal. Whats the big deal?"  
Ruby Princess hit the back of his head, "What was that for?"  
"For being dumb. Don't you realize what it means? If there's nothing to limit the pain, who knows what kind of damage it can do to someone?"  
Alabaster Master continued, "That's not the only concern. If someone can disable or remove the pain limiters, what can stop them from creating a pain amplifier?"

"May I offer my own input?"

"Go ahead Ebon-san."

"I don't think we should just simply conclude that. We don't know enough about Predatory Carnival or their methods to come to any conclusions about this plot."

"You're correct in that we do not have enough information but we still have to act either way. Besides I understand Prussian Tyrant enough to know that this is not something he came up with."

"You know Prussian Tyrant? The Legion Master of Predatory Carnival?"

"Yes Princess-san but that is an old story for another time. However back to the point, Lemon Chameleon has acquired some information regarding Predatory Carnival's next move. Apparently for Kizaki Hikari's concert tomorrow, Predatory Carnival will be initiating a two stage plan that we know nothing about."

"...and we have to stop it anyway?"

"You know me too well Ebon-san. The experiment will be taking place at the concert so we'll split into two teams..."

"Remind me why I'm with you again?"  
Ruby Princess sighed as a breeze blew through the silver balcony, causing it to create a melodic rattling akin to a windchime. This was in contrast to the seemingly chaotic hive of activity below them seemingly focused on the construction of a black obelisk. Navy Brawler though did not seem interested as she answered his question, "Master said that we should try to work together better and to stop bickering."  
"Well you always start..."  
"Thats precisely what he means. Also thats not true, you're the one who starts!"  
"I don't!"  
"Yes you do!"  
As their voices got louder, they failed to hear a loud cackle behind them and to notice an unusual orange glow emanating from a flaming third avatar, "Well, well...look what I found here."

Both Navy Brawler and Ruby Princess replied angrily simultaneously, "Not now!"  
Ruby Princess immediatly followed up with a command, "Equip Enhanced Armament Imperial Dreadnought Raiment [REVOLVER]!"  
Portals opened allowing various to emerge and affix themselves onto her body. Most notably, the lower half of her body began to dismantle itself, reforming her dress and hovering components into a short skirt and a pair of legs with prominent thrusters on the back of her thighs. The most notable feature of her current form however was the gun mounted on her right arm which replaced most of it with a revolver's cylinder. That same gun was aimed and fired at their enemy, the duel avatar Blaze Pyro.  
He responded by dodging to the right, forming a flaming magma sword with his left arm that was aimed straight at where her neck was.  
Navy Brawler blocked the blow with the broad side of his blade before twisting it away.  
"Impressive reaction time..."  
Blaze Pyro raised his right arm, forming it into another sword, "...but lets see how impressive your reaction to the refurbished Blaze Pyro is!"  
"Hmm, 'refurbished' is a pretty strange word to use."  
"What does my vocabulary have to do with your impending defeat Navy Brute!?"  
"Nothing and its Brawler! Not Brute!"  
Blaze Pyro ignored his correction as he proceeded to slash away at Navy Brawler. The attacks were parried and blocked, gradually forcing the intense exchange away from the edge of the balcony.

The sparks caused by the duel between Navy Brawler and Blaze Pyro started to draw the attention of the assorted workers, causing them to stop whatever they were doing. The commotion gave Iron Rapier, Ebon Knight and Lemon Chameleon the chance to approach the obelisk-like structure.

"What is that?"

"No idea Rapier-san, thats why we're here. Chameleon-san, try to see if you can open up an admin interface for the obelisk."

"On it Ebon Knight."

Lemon Chameleon slowly approached the towering structure, making a gesture that opened a floating panel with various symbols and images. Making several more gestures caused those symbols to shift and change, all this while Iron Rapier noticed that Chameleon was mumbling to himself, "This isn't right..."

Ebon Knight caught on to his troubled mumblings, "Chameleon, whats wrong?"

"Well sir, I'm not sure how to put this...but apparently, based on this console, this obelisk is a factory."

Anyone could imagine a questioning look on Ebon Knight's face as he asked, "A factory? A factory for what? Rather how is something like a factory even possible in Brain Burst?"

Another voice answered his questions, "Its a factory to create anything and yes, I have made this factory possible."

The trio turned to face the newcomer behind them, a hooded figure with four glowing green eyes.

"How rude of me, I'm Twilight Orbit, a general in Predatory Carnival and to elaborate on my statement, the Obelisk is a prototype item generator. To be exact, it is an item generator that can produce anything as long as I have the proper software code for it."

Iron Rapier drew her swords, "So it creates cheat items?"

"That is such a crude way of putting it."

The trio stepped back as they were slowly surrounded.

"I'd prefer the term 'works of art'. Also since you have seen the Obelisk..."

"...so we can't allow you all to leave. Not while I, Amethyst Queen, is overseeing this operation."

Lemon Chameleon tensed up, clenching his claws as two purple avatars appeared next to the hooded avatar. He presumed the female avatar, who was equipped with a ring on her back with orbs attached to it at regular intervals, was Amethyst Queen. The other one was seemingly male and slightly shorter than Amethyst Queen and in a darker shade of purple than Amethyst. His only distinguishing features were a staff and his head which resembled a wizard's pointed hat.

The orbs on Ametheyst Queen began to glow, "Twilight Orbit, resume work on the Anti-brake Module. Violet Wizard and myself will deal with the intruders."

Twilight Orbit merely nodded as he gave a slight bow and walked off, or so it seemed as his movement was too smooth to resemble walking, Iron Rapier thought. However she pushed that thought aside as Amethyst Queen took another step forward.


	9. Login 08: Combat

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its characters.

To Misaka 20,001: I do admit that it can get confusing because of the large scale battles with multiple fronts. Will try to avoid this in the later chapters by having a bit more focus

Author's Note: Always love reviews, especially those pointing out any problems. Will do my best to address those. Also been spending some time on a side-story project for this fanfic. No idea when it'll be done though since I'm doing that whenever I'm stuck writing for Iron Princess.

Login 08: Combat

Alabaster Master stepped onto a ruined plaza with various pillars surrounding it. Calmly, he surveyed his surroundings noting no significant movement as he approached an avatar with a large build clutching a large chainsaw sword. He was the first to speak, "So what brings you here Master-kun?"  
"You know full well the reason why I am forcing myself to come here Prussian Tyrant."  
"Do tell me. What might the reason be?"  
"Its about what your generals are trying to do and what they have done."  
Prussian Tyrant merely chuckled in response, "Now this is unusual. The calm and stoic Alabaster Master, the Tiger of the East, being passionate."  
"This is not a laughing matter."  
"Of course. You want to speak about what happened your Legion member...what was his name...?"  
"Emerald Bulwark. He was challenged by your general."  
"So this about your Legion members being sore losers?"  
"Stop wasting my time, Emerald Bulwark is still suffering from pain linked to extreme damage. That was last night and even now he's still in pain."  
"...and you believe I have something to do with this?"  
Alabaster Master was getting annoyed, an emotion he had not felt for a long time. How he coped with this feeling of annoyance surprised even Alabaster Master himself as he charged forward with a surge of speed. Light blue glowing flames erupted from his fists as he dashed towards Prussian Tyrant, pulling his right arm back as he did to throw a punch. However, Prussian Tyrant stopped his attack with a dark-red glowing right palm, resulting in a shockwave that stirred up the dust in the immediate area.  
"My, my...bringing in Incarnation into this."  
Grabbing his fist, Prussian Tyrant threw Alabaster Master into a nearby pillar, causing it to collapse on to him.  
"Whats wrong? Has not fighting for two years made you weak Master-kun!"  
The pile of rubble began to shift as Alabaster Master emerged, his fists still alight with glowing blue flames. Prussian Tyrant laughed, "There you go and not a scratch on you!"  
Alabaster Master did not share in the laughter, "Tell me what the hell you're playing! Everything your Predatory Carnival is doing...are you trying to incite a Second Battle Royale?"  
"Whatever do you mean?"  
Alabaster Master dashed towards Prussian Tyrant,prompting him to swing his sword in a broad arc once Alabaster Master entered his reach. The swing was dodged with a simple duck as Alabaster Master also dealt a powerful upper-cut to the flat face of the sword, disarming Prussian Tyrant.  
"Stop playing dumb, I even have intel about your item factory."  
"Ah, thats probably Orbit-kun's technical stuff."  
"So you do know of this!"  
"Never said I didn't."  
Alabaster Master unleashed a rapid flurry of punches, all of which were blocked as their speed increased-gradually turning the exchange into a high-speed blur. The deadlock was broken by Alabaster Master as he uses the momentum of his Incarnation-empowered flurry to launch himself back a short-distance. As he attempted a sweeping low kick, a black panel emerged from the ground to block it before blasting him back.  
"What the...?"  
Two panels flanked Alabaster Master before rapidly expanding into cubes and rushing towards each other in an attempt to crush him. However he was able to leap out of the way before the cubes crashed together. Leaping off the fused cubes and landing on the ground, he faced Prussian Tyrant and possibly one of the most unusual avatars he had ever seen.  
He was composed of multiple black panels which gave him an extremely unusual front profile that was almost unsettling. His right arm was a single purple light as several panels appeared to form his arm. He soon spoke in an extremely laidback manner, "Most impressive, being able to avoid my Static Pressure but it should be expected of Alabaster Master, the White Tiger."  
Alabaster Master positioned himself into a fighting stance, "Who are you?"  
"I suppose its rude not to introduce myself. Black Vise, Vice-President of the Acceleration Research Group. I would appreciate it if you left Tyrant-kun and Predatory Carnival alone."  
Alabaster Master was not entirely sure why he was being so uncharacteristically annoyed and aggressive. What he did know was that the feeling was getting intense, "...and explain to me why I should."  
Black Vise replied in a manner and tone that was both non-chalant and reluctant, "My organization has invested a significant amount of resources into this project. Thus I would appreciate from Divine Sanctuary."  
"If I refuse?"  
"Then I'll have to unfortunately need to have you dealt with...Static Pressure."  
Alabaster Master leapt upwards as the panels emerged. However, while in mid-air, he had no chance of avoiding a flying sword thrown by Prussian Tyrant. Taking the unorthodox projectile to the face shattered the clear blue covering on most of his head, exposing a more electronic upper face as he tumbled towards ground. Alabaster Master notes that his health had dropped to half. As he braced himself for impact, a mirrored panel appeared under him. However, instead of shattering or breaking the panel, Alabaster Master fell into the panel, as though it were a pool of water. Nothing emerged from the other side as the mirror shrunk until it disappear.  
Black Vise scratched a panel composing his head, "Now that is unexpected."  
"No matter Vise-dono..." Prussian Tyrant strided towards where his sword landed blade first. Gripping the hilt, he freed the blade with a single strong pull, "...Divine Sanctuary will be dealt with before they interfere again."

"I trust that you shall see to it..."

As he said this, Black Vise dismantled himself before his panels disappeared into the shadows of the nearby pillar.

Ebon Knight armed his lance as the surrounding avatars closed in on the group. He began a cursory assessment, noting only that Amethyst Queen and the avatar next to her named Violet Wizard were the only significant opponents. The rest were simply, to put it crudely, cannon fodder.

"Iron Rapier, take on Violet Wizard. Queen is mine. Chameleon, find Ruby and get her to take on the rest and destroy the Obelisk."

They nodded as they acknowledged their tasks, "Now all we need is a distraction of some kind."

Amethyst Queen took another imposing step forward as she laughed almost maniacally, "Why don't you all just surrender now and I can get to my concert..."

"Concert?"

"Yes Ebon Knight-san, I have a concert. I'm a famous idol and I'm way better than all of you!"

Iron Rapier knew that she did not like the person behind the avatar and that Amethyst Queen's haughtiness and outright arrogance truly fit her name though her statement did start to bother her. Ebon Knight seemed to echo her thoughts, "...and what would an idol, like her highness, have to do with creating cheat items?"

"Creating cheat items is only a convenient byproduct of Project Obelisk...our ultimate goal is to generate a key."

"A key? A key to what if I may be so bold to ask?"

"Why should I tell someone like you? Everyone, I leave you to deal with them."

Sinister chuckling could be heard as the circle of avatars started to close in ever tighter. Before Amethyst Queen could turn to leave the area, she froze before she spoke in her usual haughty tone, "My, my...to think that you were here little sister."

Behind Amethyst Queen, with a barrel pointed to her back, Ruby Princess simply cocked her head, "I'm surprised you remembered I even existed Onee-sama. Your attitude is still as terrible as ever."

Iron Rapier was stunned by the implications of the exchange; that Amethyst Queen was really Kizaki Hikari. This was despite how rotten her personality was in contrast to how she appeared on TV, in live appearances and on her Twitter. She resolved to ask Ruby Princess after this was over  
The orbs on the ring mounted on Amethyst Queen's back rotated to face Ruby Princess. Amethyst Queen chuckled, "You know full well that you can't surpass me...I'm a queen and you're just a princess."

"Who the hell wants to surpass the Queen of Nobody?"

Ruby Princess jumped back just as the lasers fired and hit empty air. The exchange had also distracted the encircling avatars. Ebon Knight noted this, "Change of plans, I'll deal with the fodder, Violet Wizard is yours Rapier-san."

She nodded as Ebon Knight aimed his lance at a hapless avatar, "Ebon Charge!"

He surged forward in a cone of energy, comepletely destroying the avatar and leaving only a single rotating panel with a timer. The rest were blown away by the wake of the attack. The entire field soon devolved into chaos allowing Iron Rapier to charge forward, shoulder ramming Violet grunted as she drew a sword for an iai strike, knocking him back with a shallow slash on his chest armor. He was still in shock as Iron Rapier drew out a second sword. His inaction though puzzle Iron Rapier as she gingerly stepped forward, "Did it really do that much damage to you?"

"It hurts..."

Iron Rapier was taken aback, both by how young he sounded and also by how young he behaved. That was when a circle appeared under her feet that violently exploded before she could react, launching her into the air where Violet Wizard shot energy bolts at her, juggling her and reducing her life bit by bit. She regretted ever giving him that opening as she deflected the next incoming energy bolt, allowing her to land. She kept moving, dodging the energy bolts and snaking around the various avatars that attempted to stop her, dodging their attacks as they came and attacking them. However she was unable to get any closer as he begun a barrage of energy bolts, intent at simply keeping her at a distance.

As she skewered a avatar and used him as a shield against a barrage of energy bolts, Violet Wizard spoke, "Onee-sama told me to defeat anyone who wanted to stop her project but you're really hard to beat if you keep moving around like that..."

"Well being defeated is not something anyone actually wants..."

"Lose already!"

His barrage intensified, causing her shield to explode in a column of green light. As the barrage flew towards her, she deflected them with her swords, her movements akin to a graceful dance through the chaotic battlefield. She was gradually able to get closer, though the level of urgency demanded that she moved faster. Suddenly, the barrage stopped. She was puzzled as to why the attacks stopped until she saw the reason, Violet Wizard had his staff raised towards the sky.  
"Onee-sama always says I shouldn't waste time in my fights. Onee-sama also that I should end my fights decisively."  
"How old are you Wizard-kun?"  
"Ten years old! Oops...Onee-sama also told me not to give my name and age to strangers."  
"Your Onee-sama has really taught you to be a good boy. Who is your Onee-sama?"  
"Hika...oops, I mean Amethyst Queen."  
Iron Rapier was surprised that such a rotten person could raise such a sweet boy. However she pushed the thought aside as Violet Wizard his next attack, "Great Energy Bomb!"  
Above the tip of the staff, a violet orb of tempestuous energy raged and grew. At this point, the orb was growing rapidly as it increased in size from a football to a car and kept growing. She panicked at the apparent level of power for several moments before he swung his staff downwards, sending the now colossal energy ball hurtling towards her.  
Iron Rapier calmed down when she noticed how slowly the projectile, in all its intimidating massive glory, was flying. She took advantage of this to press her attack, side stepping the slow moving projectile as it plowed into her pursuers. Violet Wizard staggered backwards as she assaulted him with a barrage of stabs before driving a blade into his chest.  
"That hurts...now I know why Onee-sama said that your other name was Skewer."  
"Sorry but thats how my duel avatar is. Also I have to defeat you. Sorry."

"Thats fine, its part of the game! That means I have to beat you too!"  
In her heart, Iron Rapier smiled. Despite his level he was still innocent unlike most of the veteran Burst Linkers, battle-hardened and experienced well past their lifetimes. She decided that it would only do him justice if she went all out as well. Before she could follow through, a round house kick sent her flying. As she staggered back to her feet, she saw a familiar red figure, a red figure that looked and spoke to Iron Rapier with much disdain.

"You again?"

"Cardinal Derringer...is this our rematch already?"

"Personally I'd avoid dealing with you but I have my orders."

Cardinal Derringer straightened her arms outwards, equipping pistols in both hands as her eyes glowed with a yellow light. Iron Rapier notes that something seemed different about the guns and the glowing eyes probably signalled the activation of an ability. However she did not have time to contemplate this thought as Derringer swooped in with a sweeping high kick. The kick was blocked with Iron Rapier's crossed blades, repelling the kick with a simple split of her blades. As she spun away, several were fired, two bullets grazing Iron Rapier's face causing nominal damage but the sensation was enough to make her wince. Iron Rapier ignored the lingering pain as she unleashed a torrent of piercing thrusts, Cardinal Derringer barely dodging the relentless storm. The thrusts she was unable to dodge caused indentations and gouges in Cardinal's red armor.  
"Your abilities seem different...I don't remember your guns looking like that, or your evasion being that great."  
"The guns are a level-up bonus that I didn't take in the past...the evasion is something else."

"Wait...I thought you were only offered level-up bonuses only once a level and its never the same thing twice."

"Exactly and lets say that there are ways to do it."

"What ways?"

"Not telling you...Hidden Barrel: Left Arm!"  
Cardinal Derringer used the momentary distraction caused by her statement to hinge her left arm, extending a barrel out from the elbow joint and shooting a powerful burst of machine gun fire straight into Iron Rapier's chest. The shot chewed up her chest armour as she was sent flying back. Cardinal Derringer fired more shots before Iron Rapier landed. Another shot sent her tumbling along the ground before finally stopping.  
Iron Rapier struggled to get up after the tumble, looking up only to face a gun barrel.  
"Give up Iron Rapier, your Legion is outnumbered."

Ruby Princess kept moving as laser beams traced blacks paths behind, her leg thrusters being pushed to its maximum while firing the Revolver Cannon on Amethyst Queen when she had the chance.  
"Its pointless to run. You'll get cut eventually."  
"Hah, I'll shoot you to bits before that'll happen!"  
Despite the outward confidence, Ruby Princess actually did agree with Amethyst Queen, she knew she could not keep running forever.  
That fact sunk in as she barely side-stepped a beam, part of her shoulder being sheared off in the process. She knew that she did not have the same reflexes as most of her melee oriented Legion members. This was because, like most avatars with similar skill sets to her, she chose to specialize heavily in long range firepower. In particular, large-scale bombardments. This put her in a very obvious disadvantage if she was forced into a mobile fight since most of her more powerful forms were either rooted to the spot or incredibly slow. The Revolver form was, in fact, her only high mobility form.  
"Whats wrong? Can't run fast enough?"  
"Shut up Onee-sama, you're always the one who could run. Especially with Dad!"  
The lasers kept cutting into her path, forcing her to make multiple sharp turns. She did not like how she was being forced to be so mobile. Amethyst Queen did not letup as the laser beams began to aggressively harry her, gradually shaving off bits of armor in the process.  
"I didn't have a choice and its not that I'm sad about losing a whiny brat and a useless mother."  
"Don't you dare call Mom useless!"  
"...I already did."  
Ruby Princess barely evaded a laser as she realized she was getting caught up in Amethyst Queen's pace. Amethyst Queen merely laughed.  
"As much as this is amusing, I will have to end this nonsense you and your Legion are causing. Royal Chandelier!"  
The orbs mounted on the ring on her back stopped firing their lasers before splitting along their equators, sliding open to reveal additional barrels. The momentary ceasefire was the chance Ruby Princess needed.  
"Mode Change! Revolver to Aegis!"  
Her armor began to dismantle themselves and teleport out as new parts came in through portals. The process felt painfully slow as the lasers charged and fired. Her armor activated with mere micro-seconds to spare as her passive point defenses stopped the multitude of beams.

"Hiding again sister!"  
The lasers gradually began to converge onto a single point, which Ruby Princess rapidly reinforced with a hexagonal energy shield, "Imperial Vanguard!"

"You know its pointless when I just concentrate everything onto a single spot! Your shield will break!"  
Ruby Princess stood her ground as cracks emerged from the point the lasers were focused. The cracks continued spreading as Amethyst Queen laughed at her predicament. Her laughter was interrupted by a shoulder ram from a blue avatar. Ruby Princess felt surprise, relief and joy at Navy Brawler's rescue. She shook her head immediately when she realized how happy she was feeling, there was no way she would be happy at the thought of Navy Brawler saving her. Amethyst Queen however felt none of that. One could imagine her face twisted into an ugly mask of rage as she spoke, "You filthy peasant! How dare you touch me! What happened to Blaze Pyro?"

Navy Brawler took a step back as he held his sword in a defensive stance, "Lets just say he's taking a break. Now you're my opponent!"

"Don't get cocky peasant, your sword is nothing before my enhanced armament: Queen's Providence!"

"Doesn't matter a lick to me. Ruby! Help Ebon-san take down the fodder with a barrage."

Ruby Princess shouted back happily, "You can't tell me what to do! Mode Change! Aegis to Hurricane!"

Amethyst Queen aimed her lasers at Ruby Princess once more and fired a storm of beams. This was blocked by Navy Brawler rapidly spinning his sword, scattering the beams in a variety of directions. Some of those beams unfortunately, pierced several of the avatars swarming Ebon Knight. Navy Brawler aimed his sword at Amethyst Queen, "I already told you, You're my opponent."


	10. Login 09: Climax

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its OC characters.

To Misaki 20,001: And thank you once again for your kind and constructive review. Yes I suppose the over-exposition is more of a result of my writing style if anything (though whether its a good or bad thing seems debatable)

Author's Note: The end of another story arc with even more revelations along with some history of the Burst Linker scene in Kanagawa. Next chapter is gonna be another breather chapter before I dive into the action again.

Login 09: Climax

Iron Rapier saw no opening to attack or even escape as she stared down the barrel of Cardinal Derringer's gun. Death did not really matter in the Unlimited Neutral Field, just a sixty minute time out. However, she could not afford a timeout, not at this point. As she prepared herself for her inevitable one hour demise, Cardinal Derringer glanced to her left before leaping backwards. Iron Rapier wondered why she would do something like that when she had the upper hand. Her answer came a split second later as a spiraling spear of energy hurtled through where Cardinal Derringer was, though the wake blew both Iron Rapier and Cardinal Derringer back. As the energy dissipated, Ebon Knight used the intertia of his attack to drive his lance into the ground, sending him into a high speed kick at Cardinal Derringer's arm, changing her trajectory. She was however still able to land on her feet.  
"Sorry I took so long Rapier-san."  
Iron Rapier smiled, even when she knew no one could see it,"Sempai."  
Cardinal Derringer maintained her defensive stance as Ebon Knight turned to face her.  
"We meet again Cardinal-san."  
Iron Rapier stood up slowly, noticing the trail of 'corpses' as she did, understanding why Ebon Knight was also called Devastation.  
"Devastation comes to save his princess?"  
"That's a white knight's job, I'm just here to stop your legion's plans."  
Cardinal Derringer merely laughed, "You can't do a thing if you've been stopped yourself!"  
Cardinal Derringer materialized a grey cylinder which she threw in the direction of the surprised Ebon Knight who only had the time to push Iron Rapier out of the radius of the resulting golden explosion, Iron Rapier having no time to react but to fall. It was several seconds before she could scream out in surprise, "Sempai! Sempai, are you ok..."

As the golden energy dissipated, Iron Rapier desperately searched for any sign that Ebon Knight was alright. She was able to make out Ebon Knight bringing her a sense of relief. However that was when she realized that something was very wrong.

He seemed alright until she noticed that he was not moving at all, she faced Cardinal Derringer prepared to demand an explanation as to her senior's status. This was preempted by Cardinal's own explanation, "You don't have to worry, I've only decelerated him for awhile."

"Decelerating?"

"Its something we created with the Obelisk; the Deceleration Grenade. Basically it decelerates anyone caught in its blast radius a thousand times."

"A thousand times? Won't that return the victims back to their normal speeds?"

"Exactly...you're alot smarter than you seem. However this only lasts for one real world second. Thus he'll be out of the way for slightly less than thirty minutes."

Iron Rapier drew out a sword as Cardinal Derringer took a step forward aiming her handgun, "This time we're ending it here and now."  
Iron Rapier dodged to the left as Cardinal Derringer opened fire, having no time to worry about Ebon Knight as she weaved her way towards Cardinal Derringer. Upon entering striking range, Iron Rapier went on the offensive, attempting to thrust her blade through her opponent's armor. This was constantly prevented by Cardinal Derringer parrying the thrusts with her handguns.

"Getting angry Rapier-san? Worried about your sempai?"

"Maybe you should do less taunting and more fighting!"

Iron Rapier found an opening in Cardinal Derringer's defense, thrusting her left sword through Cardinal Derringer's right bicep. Cardinal Derringer staggered backwards clutching her right arm, barely avoiding the second piercing stab. The third pierce grazed her face.

Cardinal Derringer performed a spinning high kick that was blocked by with a forearm block. This gave Iron Rapier the opportunity to grab her leg and flipped Cardinal Derringer over her head, practically tossing her. Cardinal Derringer gasped as she went airborne, giving Iron Rapier the chance to run another sword through Cardinal Derringer's back. Cardinal grunted in pain as she landed, attempting to rise before meeting the tip of Iron Rapier's sword.

"Looks like our roles have switched."

"So it seems... Hidden Barrel: Right Arm!"

Cardinal Derringer's right wrist flipped up to reveal a barrel that extended out before firing a grenade straight at Iron Rapier. The grenade exploded, sending her flying backwards some distance. Cardinal Derringer returned her wrist to its normal position before leaping up to deliver a devastating kick to the still airborne Iron Rapier.

Iron Rapier gasped as the air was forced out of her lungs by the kick, or at least that was the sensation she felt as she landed on her back and skidded before slamming onto a wall.  
"I'm definitely feeling that later..."  
She soon felt a cold barrel on her head.  
"You'll be feeling that and more."  
Iron Rapier knew that a shot like that would be a critical hit even though that would not be much different from a normal attack. In fact at that point her health was too low to withstand another attack even with her resistances to Cardinal Derringer's mostly physical attribute ranged attacks. She prepared herself for the inevitable darkness that came with dying in the Unlimited Neutral Field, waiting for the shot that will end it.

"Well, this is goodbye for now..."

She braced herself, however the shot would never come as a tonfa suddenly appeared from thin air to strike Cardinal Derringer's flank, causing her to react in both pain and surprise as a tonfa wielding Lemon Chameleon phased into view.

Before Cardinal Derringer could counterattack Lemon Chameleon's sudden appearance, his chameleon like mouth opened to reveal a barrel with an appendage within.

"Tongue Spear!"

The appendage was launched out, the back of crown of Lemon Chameleon's head producing a very visible jet of steam as it did. The attack truly lived to its name as the tongue pierced through her chest and embedding itself into the ground, anchoring itself in the process.

"Quick Rapier-san, end it now."

"Twin Strike!"  
Iron Rapier's blades glowed with a blie light as she delivered two slashes. Her special attack, in addition to Lemon Chameleon's attack, brought Cardinal Derringer's health down to zero. As the column of red light cleared, Iron Rapier staggered into a standing position as Lemon Chameleon rushed over to support her.

"Rapier-san, are you alright?"

"Sempai..."

"I'll watch over him to make sure no one tries to attack him in that state. Are you fine enough to walk?"

"I can still..."

"Fight? You're definitely in no shape to fight."

"I..."

"You can't do much after a fight like that. Just watch over Ebon Knight-dono with me and allow Ruby and Brawler to handle the rest."

"Handle the rest?"

"Opening our escape route, though it seems that they need to deal with Amethyst Queen first. I've already prepared everything to destroy the Obelisk as we make our escape."

A wave of missiles flew through the air, leaving a web of smoke trails as they flew towards the seemingly vulnerable Amethyst Queen. The missiles' approach was denied as the orbs on her back fired lasers to destroy them, producing a bouquet of blossoming explosions. Ruby Princess immediately took this opportunity to use her hover jets to dash to the next mound of rubble for cover where Navy Brawler awaited, barely avoiding the cluster of lasers that followed. Amethyst Queen simply laughed.

"Yes. Yes! Keep scurrying around like the filthy rats that you all are!"  
Ruby Princess panted as she threw at hard stare at Navy Brawler. He felt it immediatly, "What? Its not my fault that my blade block only lasts five seconds."  
"You could have said that before I firing."  
"Hey, I didn't expect your loony sister to..."  
Before he could finish his sentence, a laser skimmed off the top of the rubble they were hiding behind. Navy Brawler felt the top of his head, relieved that it was still there before facing the still glaring Ruby Princess.

"Fine, I was half-expecting that..."

"We need a better plan than just running and shooting."

"Now that is something we can both agree on..."

Another chunk of cover was shaved off by a laser. Ruby Princess ducked as pieces of rubble rained down. Then, Ruby Princess straightened her back, her hover jets humming.  
"I have an idea, follow my lead."  
Navy Brawler was about to say something as Ruby Princess emerged from the rubble much to his shock, "Hey Onee-sama! Bet you can't hit my big red butt with those pretty lights!"  
"I can hit you anytime I want!"  
As Ruby Princess began to dash away from the oncoming lasers, Navy Brawler emerged from behind the rubble and drew out his sword. Realizing that Amethyst Queen looked frantic, attempting to divert lasers to attack him. However she only succeeded in only changing the course of two of her lasers which moved significantly slower than when they were chasing her sister. Navy Brawler aimed the tip of his blade at Amethyst Queen and charged towards her roaring. Amethyst Queen barely sidestepped the thrust in time, causing the blade to graze her shoulder. Although the damage was insignificant, this was enough for her to lose the focus she needed to have to control her lasers. The result was that the lasers dissipated. Ruby Princess laughed.

"Looks like Onee-sama still has problems multi-tasking!"

Navy Brawler appeared stunned before yelling angrily, "You knew her weakness and didn't say anything?"

"Well I wasn't sure if she still had this problem!"

Amethyst Queen chuckled as she staggered backwards rubbing the slight graze, "I can't believe you actually managed to damage me...no one has been able to damage me before. On top of that it was because of a half-assed strategy?! That...is...UNACCEPTABLE!"

The gems and seams on Amethyst Queen's body began to glow with a purple light, the ring on her back dissolving as she unequiped it. This sudden change caused Navy Brawler to step backwards while Ruby Princess simply stood there stunned, "Onee-sama...what ability is that?"

"Something that you're a million years too early to know about!"

Purple energy orbs formed and floated in the palms of her hands, the energy crackled with white lightning as she aimed one of the orbs at the surprised Navy Brawler. Her maniacal laughter rang out as she called out the name of the attack, "Glorious Ray!"

A beam of purple energy shot forth from the orb hurtling straight towards Navy Brawler who rapidly rolled out of its path, believing himself safe.

He could not have been more wrong.

The head of the beam turned to track his movements, surprising Navy Brawler who brought the flat of his blade up as a shield. The beam plowed its way through his sword and his chest behind it before emerging from his back. Navy Brawler still remained surprised as his legs lost their strength, supporting himself on his sword to remain upright.

"What was that?"

She replied with laughter and a second Glorious Ray which incinerated his head. His body erupted into a pillar of blue light as he fell over limply. Ruby Princess froze in both shock and horror. Shock that Navy Brawler was defeated so effortlessly in such a brutal manner and horror that her egomaniacal sister had such a power in the first place. Ruby Princess wept limp with the shock of how devastating the attack was, how quickly Navy Brawler went down.

"It can't be..."

"Upset that your boyfriend was taken down so quickly?"

Ruby Princess did not reply as she went limp, her armor gaining a grey tint. Amethyst Queen laughed again at the sight, "Going into zero-fill already? How pathetic though I guess it makes it easy to deal with you."

She aimed both orbs at Ruby Princess, preparing to fire her attack once again. The beam surged forth to impale the immboile Ruby Princess. However to her surprise, a sphere appeared right on the attack's path and what was even more surprising was what happened next. The spehere split open revealing several mirrors. The beam hit the mirror sphere, scattering the beam in multiple directions. Amethyst Queen felt a presence behind her, she turned to face a familiar four-eyed cloaked avatar.  
"Oh its just you."  
"You know that Tyrant-sama has explicitly banned us from using Incarnation."  
"Tsk..."

Amethyst Queen clenched her fist, dispersing the orb of energy.

"Shouldn't you be working on producing more items from the Obelisk?"

"I was, however it seems that the Obelisk has been sabotaged rendering this Obelisk useless."

"What? Don't you know what Tyrant-sama will do..."

"There is no need to worry, this Obelisk is merely a prototype so its loss is of no consequence. Also we have what we need."

"The first key?"

"Yes, so the Obelisk is no longer necessary but it is a bonus."

"At least its not a total loss...fine we're withdrawing. Sister, consider yourself lucky that you have not tasted my wrath this day."

The two generals walked away from the still Ruby Princess, leaving her to wallow in her own despair.

The first thing he heard when he regained consciousness was the sound of a roaring waterfall, Alabaster Master opened his eyes to the sight of a stone ceiling. Sitting up he took stock of his surroundings, the room being simply furnished with a bed, a bedside table, a desk and a simple chair. The only other fixtures was a light, door and an opening which he took to be a window. He slowly walks over to the window and beholds a sight which one would consider unbelievable, even in the Unlimited Neutral Field.

Looking out he saw a vast crater, and judging from his view his room and a good part of wherever he was was built right into the crater walls. At four specific intervals were large pipes from which flowed a torrential amount of water into a central area that ringed a circular platform with a prominent symbol, an octogon with a convex on the bottom and a circle above it, that stood right in the centre.

"Still impressed after all these years Alabaster?"

He turned his head to face the source of the female voice, an inky black avatar whose body seemed to be speckled with a random arrangement of dots and patterns. Upon closer inspection however the 'dots' were actually stars while the patterns were galaxies and nebulas. He smiled as he immediatly recongnized the unusual avatar.  
"Never expected to see you here, much less still in control if your fortress and legion, Night Void."  
"I survived somehow and Nirvana is now just me and Mirror Bishop."  
"I knew that ability was familiar..."  
"Through the Looking Glass certainly is a useful ability however I am curious about what made Mirror-san use it in the first place. About why you'd meet Tyrant-kun."  
"I just wanted to know what he was after. Why he'd resurface after two years leading a new hostile legion whose goals are just as vague as their reasons."  
"I might have an idea...but lets have something to eat. Like old times."  
With a gesture, a tray with several Italian dishes floated into the room and set itself gently on the bed followed by two goblets filled with water. One of the goblets guided itself into Alabaster Master's hand. Night Void floated a plate into her hand.  
"Its amazing what Burst Points can buy. I've heard rumors that you can even buy a Christmas tree with decorations."  
"Oh I have that in the Legion storage. Put it up every christmas. Anyway you might know what Tyrant is after?"  
"Before I start, have you ever heard of the Halls of Akashic?"  
"Bits and pieces. Supposedly its where Brain Burst's source code can be found but no one has even confirmed it exists and thats only the most popular rumor."

"So what does a farfetched rumor have to do with his situation?"

"Think about it Alabaster-kun, Tyrant-kun is honest to a fault and he's so direct its obvious. He won't go after something unless he absolutely knows that what he wants is where he knows it is. Also I believe that you are aware of Predatory Carnival's goal?"  
"To accelerate the world?"  
"To even have an inkling of how to even start, one would need to understand how Brain Burst functions as a program. Hence Tyrant-kun will definitely need to have some access to the source code..."

"...and the Halls of Akashic are his chance."

"Exactly Alabaster-kun."

"How do you know all this Night-san?"

"Lets say that even though I'm in hiding, I still have eyes and ears in the Accelerated World."

"You always were the best at gathering information out of the four of us..."

"Yes...the Four Cardinals...its a pity Topaz Diva was fell during the Battle Royale."

Alabaster Master stiffened at the mention of the name Topaz Diva. Night Void noticed this and gently sat next to Alabaster Master, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Alabaster-kun, I know how you felt about Topaz-chan but..."

"Its alright Night-san, I just lost my cool. Seems like thats been happening alot lately also I'm grateful for your insight into this."

"Just helping an old friend. Anyway how is Ebon Knight doing these days? I heard that he's been really active in duels and territory wars."  
"That's true but he hasn't used Longinus at all, not since Battle goes for his Incarnation attack skill too."  
"Hydra Lance? Well I can understand why anyone would be frightened of that ability. Its horrifying against single targets...those snakes impaling you over and over again..."  
Night Void shuddered at the mental image as Alabaster Master merely chuckled at the sight before continuing, "...but he is still overwhelming even without Longinus."  
"That is a testament to his own skill...I believe he once won a territory war by himself against a full group."  
"That was an exagerration, he had Emerald Bulwark to play defense."  
"True but he was the only one actually going on the offence. Also, I still consider that a fiasco."  
Night Void laughed at the statement as she stood up and floated over to the window, "However you must admit, if it weren't for Ebon-dono all of us would never have met...you, myself, Topaz-chan. Even Tyrant-kun."  
Alabaster Master stood up, returning his dish to the tray.  
"Thank you for the food and for your insight."  
"No need for thanks. If you're looking for the Leave Point, its still in the same place."  
"Thank you for that...oh before I go. What do you think of the situation in Tokyo?"  
"You mean with the Black King's return and her renewed declaration against the Kings of Pure Colour?"  
"Yes, or more specifically, whether her revolution will finally force the Kings to move."  
"Well the current stagnation in Tokyo has brought on an unprecedented era of peace...nothing like what we have here. In the real world, it would be considered utopian but this is the Accelerated World- peace will never last forever. The very birth of a flying avatar after seven years has already caused a shift."  
"Yes...Silver Crow certainly has alot of influence."  
"You're not thinking of trying to establish a Divine Sanctuary foothold in Tokyo?"  
"If the chance and opportunity presents itself."  
"Then I wish you all the best when the time comes."


	11. Login 10: History

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its OC characters.

To Misaka 20,001: Well this chapter does establish the story as being set some time after Taku transfers into Umesato Junior High and before the incident regarding the 5th Chrome Disaster though I wouldn't be surprised if Alabaster Master knew about the Chrome Disasters...

To HazekuraAya: Well see if I can come up with an elegant solution to this and thank you very much for your kind review. I'll read your story should I have the time.

Author's Note: Apologies for the late chapter, had some personal problems of late and to a particular someone, I don't know if you do read this or not but know that I am sincerely sorry for how I came across. Now all I want is my dearest and oldest friend back.

Login 10: History

Everyone gathered at the tables outside a snack cart selling German sausages, each one eating a stick of the sausages being sold. Tenma Godou was grinning in Kizaki Minami's direction. The blond noticed almost immediatly. She met his grin with a very angry glare with an equally angry question, "Why are you so happy?"  
"I heard you cried when my head was being disintergrated by Queenie."

"No I didn't!"

"Thats not what Hideo-san said."

She growled slightly at Hideo Tarou who simply shrugged and replied non-chalantly, "Well he asked me what happened when he recovered and I just told him ."

Now, it was Kizaki's turn to grin as she turned and spoke to him sarcastically, "So you were worried about me? I'm so touched..."

"What? Who would ever worry about a pompous brat like you!"

Everybody else laughed as they continued their argument over who was or was not worried. Narajima Ayumi smiled as everyone bantered cheerfully while eating their sausages. Kagama Gen then decided to bring the spoils of their encounter, *Ok, Hideo-san, what was in the data you got from the Obelisk?*

*Well, its mostly raw data so I'll need about a day or two to process it into something meaningful. However I did find out what they're trying to create using the Obelisk.*

*Do you have any idea what it is?*

*Well Kagama-dono, based on the raw data's prefixes and suffixes I'd have to say it's some kind of GM level item.*

*A GM item? Do you know anything else about it?*

*Not until I process this raw data. Until then there's nothing we can do.*

There was a very visible look of irritation on Kagama's face, *So we're stuck for now...at least we understand abit more about whats going on. I was however hoping that it wouldn't turn out this way.*

Ayumi was curious about the last sentence as Kagama fell silent with a thoughtful expression. As she continued looking intently at Kagama's face, she recognized a very familiar figure.

Chiyu ran towards Ayumi before hugging her in her chair, "Ayumi-chan! I never expected to see you here. With Kagama-sempai, Tenma-san and Hideo-san no less."  
The mentioned waved in reply as Chiyu smiled back as she continued, "Anyway I never would have seen our potential captain as a Kizaki Hikari fan."

"Well I guess I just saw the CM's on the net and got curious..."

Chiyu immediatly had a very sly look as she crept closer to Ayumi, "So you worked up the guts to ask Kagama-sempai?"

"What? Well I...wait a minute. What did you say earlier?"  
"About working up the guts to ask Kagama-sempai?"  
"Before that."  
"Our potential captain liking Kizaki Hikari?"  
"What? Potential captain?"  
"You didn't hear? We're having a mini kendo tournament to decide who's the next captain since Ishida-sempai is stepping down."  
Kagama immediatly became interested, "Ishida-kun? I heard he was interested in a high school in Tokyo?"  
Chiyu nodded, "He still is. The only problem is that his grades aren't great so he's stepping down to focus on studying."  
"Well he did admit his English and Maths are bad..."  
"So thats why we're looking for a new captain. Hopefully before the friendly match next month. Sensei didn't tell you?"  
"Well the friendly is news to me. Who is it with?"  
"We're going to a school in Tokyo's Suginami ward...let me see...Umesato Junior High."  
"Hmm I heard that a prefecture finalist just recently transferred there."  
"Mayuzumi Takumu? I saw one of his matches on the Global Net, he was a powerhouse."  
Ayumi had heard of Mayuzumi Takumu, in fact he was quite famous within the junior high kendo circuit for winning all of his kendo matches. However she had also heard rumors that after his transfer to Umesato he was not as overwhelming as he once was, "I heard some rumors about him too."

Chiyu knew exactly what she was talking about, "You mean his sudden drop in power after his transfer?"

"Well personally it seems more like he's gone out of overdrive."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean he is still winning after all...but I've heard of someone catching up to his record. He was dominating the elementary level kendo tournaments though he is going to graduate this year."

"I believe his name is Noumi-kun..."

"Just Noumi-kun?"

"Thats the name the forums keep using. For some reason they don't have his full name...oh here it is, Noumi Seiji."

"Well Tokyo seems to have alot of accomplished kendo practitioners at the middle and high school levels for some reason."  
"Yeah I wonder why..."  
Ayumi knew why, it was an open secret among Burst Linkers that most of the top kendo practitioners in Tokyo were Burst Linkers and that a majority of them were associated with the Blue Legion, Leonidz. However it was also an equally known fact that Blue Knight, the Blue Legion's master, frowned upon the abuse of acceleration for personal gain. Whether he actually enforced that stand was something that Ayumi was not aware of.

"Ah, looks like the concert is going to continue soon. We're heading back to our seats. See you later Ayumi-chan!"  
As they took their leave, Ayumi could not help but feel that something seemed off. The feeling lasted only a split second as the group bantered about lighter topics before heading back to the concert themselves.

A week had passed since the concert and Narajima Ayumi was practising her sword swings in the school's dojo as part of club activities. That was when she heard an announcement from their adviser and head trainer teacher, "Alright everyone, gather round! I have some important news."  
Everyone surrounded the teacher, all discussing among themselves what the news could be. Ayumi saw Tenma together with his group of friends, smiling smugly as they laughed. She felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to face the origin of the hand, she met Takeno Chiyu's smiling face.  
"Alright, settle down."  
The club member soon fell silent as the club adviser cleared his throat, "As you all know we have a friendly match and training session with Umesato Junior High's kendo club coming up next week. I have selected the five students who will be going along with Takeno Chiyu -san."  
He made a few gestures before he started announcing the names. As each name was called out, her heart pounded in time with the applause before she heard two familiar names, "...Narajima Ayumi and lastly Tenma Godou."  
Chiyu hugged and screamed for joy. It was deafening bit she understood her joy. It was an adventure they could share together as friends. She smiled at the thought as their adviser continued, "With that I need to speak to the five of you so that I can pass to you the consent forms. I'll also need to brief everyone on the details. That'll be all."  
The students scattered to resume their activities, some expressing disappointment at being chosen. Most gave their congratulations before leaving.  
"Ok, as for the five of you and Takeno-san. I'll be sending you the consent forms. I've also included the iterinary in the mail. I've also gotten permission for you all to be excused from classes on Friday so that we can make it by Friday afternoon."

Everyone present opened the mail they had just received before answering simultaneously, "Yes sensei."

"Good, thats all I have. Now get back to practise."

Iron Rapier dashed forward, both her swords drawn as she charged towards her spear wielding opponent. As he thrusted his spear to strike her as she charged in a predictable straight line, she side-stepped and spun with the forward thrust. She rapidly closed the distance with the momentum of the dodge, giving her opponent no time to defend himself as she drove a sword through his neck while using a normal stabbing attack as a feint. He was desperately trying to pull the sword hilariously pierced through his throat. Iron Rapier backpedaled several steps before gripping her remaining sword with both hands.  
"Heavy Strike!"  
The overhead strike impacted with the spearmen's head, shattering the helmet-like armor and dropping his health to zero. She loosened her grip before sheathing her sword as the reward window opened.  
She felt a presence behind her whose owner spoke, "You seem bothered Rapier-san."  
She immediatly recognized the voice as Ebon Knight's, "Really sempai? Do I look that bothered?"  
"Your fighting style tends to be more aggressive and decisive when you're thinking of something and its bothering you."

"Really?"

"I have been watching your fights ever since you installed Brain Burst, its only natural I pick up on this."  
Although it was not apparent as a duel avatar, she felt her face heat up in embarassment. Whether Ebon Knight knew this or not, he did not show it.  
"However I am still surprised at how merciless and vicious your skill set is. On top of this you're going into a deep specialization for piercing."  
"Is that bad sempai?"  
"Well it isn't. In fact its quite an asset but it does make me concerned."  
"Concerned?"  
"Our duel avatar's appearance is generated based on how we see and perceive ourselves in our deepest subconscious while abilities and attributes stem from our traumas and, in very rare cases, strong wishes. In fact the very systems that creates and drives our duel avatars stem from our psyches."  
"I don't really understand sempai..."  
"Perhaps it is difficult to explain like this...where are you diving from?"  
Ayumi was temporarily taken aback by the question before she answered, "In the cafe across the street from school."

"Alright, dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field tonight at around nine o'clock and meet me at our fortress's Leave point. We'll continue this conversation then."

Iron Rapier sweeped her gaze around the Leave Point chamber, looking for Ebon Knight's large armored form. She absently rested her hand on the hilt of top most sword on her left hip, one of a set of three with her right hip having a matching set. Despite the fact that each sword could be drawn and wielded seperately, it was still treated as a single item. She still did not fully understand why Six Avengers, her enhanced armament, was given to her though she had a feeling that she might be in denial about it. She pushed her thoughts aside as she saw the black, armored form of Ebon Knight.  
"Sempai!"  
"Sorry I kept you waiting. Did you wait too long?  
realize that this was playing out like a date. Getting embarassed, she remained silent as Ebon Knight gestured for her to follow.  
Their path winded down several corridors before exiting into a garden. The garden itself appeared to be on one of the multitude of balconies that dot the walls of the Legion Fortress which gave it a rather magnificent view of the Unlimited Neutral Field, which was currently a cold frozen wasteland.  
"I didn't know there was a place like this here."  
"I can understand your surprise Rapier-san...not too many in our Legion know about this place. However this is the perfect place for what I'm about to tell you. Do you remember what I said earlier today?"  
"About our psyches being a source of power?"  
"Yes and having an understanding of that source allows one to manipulate the system to your advantage."

Ebon Knight held up a gaunleted hand and clenched it. This seemed to cause his fist to glow with black energy. Iron Rapier noted that the black energy seemed to have a slight blue tinge to it though it was barely noticeable.

"The ability to visualize your desires and manifest them into the Accelerated World."  
She stood in silence as the black energy dispersed. She thought back to all the duels and battles she had fought, realizing that none of her opponents used any abilities that glowed the way Ebon Knight's hand was glowing. The energy faded as he unclenched his fist, "That ability, to incarnate our desires is called Incarnation."  
"Incarnation?"  
"Its an ability that defies the very rules of Brain Burst and, depending on the strength of your will and visualization, be extremely powerful."  
"If all it takes is willpower then why doesn't everyone use Incarnation? Rather why haven't I even heard of it before?"  
"The existence of Incarnation is supposed to be a secret that only Legion Masters and close aides of the said Masters are privy to although only Legion Masters usually have a full understanding of Incarnation."  
"Then why is sempai telling me this?"

"There are two reasons. The first is that Navy Brawler and Ruby Princess have reported that several members of Predatory Carnival, most notably their Generals. Secondly, I have a feeling that you might have the potential to use Incarnation."

"The first part I partially understand but for the second I have to say that well...to be honest how can I have the potential to use a skill that I never even knew existed until thirty seconds ago."

"You don't need to know about a skill to have the potential for it."

"That's not the point sempai...I mean you have so much faith in me even though I know nothing about all this..."

"I believe in you simply because I want to."

"Sempai, you're starting to sound like the main character of a romance comedy manga."

Ebon Knight laughed at the statement, casually turning to face the expanse of landscape beyond the fortress walls.  
"If only our lives were like a manga..."  
Ebon Knight fell silent, as though he was entering a comtemplative state. This worried Iron Rapier.  
"Sempai? Are you alright?"  
"Its nothing, just that my sister used to say the same thing to me a long time ago..."  
"Your sister?"  
"She died in a car accident..."  
"I'm sorry sempai..."  
"Its fine. The only one who should be sorry. Sorry that I was powerless to save her..."  
"Sempai...is your sister the trauma that created Ebon Knight?"  
"Thats correct...or rather its my trauma of being powerless to save her when she was just mere meters away. Guess thats why I was given a lance and a charge attack when I started."  
"...because deep down, you wanted the power to charge forward and break through your 'powerless-ness'."  
"That's one way of putting it, Rapier-san. However I am more curious about the kind of trauma that can produce Iron Rapier."  
"Well I don't really know it myself..." Ebon Knight picked up on her hesitation to answer, hinting that there are issues she is unwilling to discuss. Ebon Knight simply sat down on the grass cross-legged, "Its alright if you don't want to talk about it. Traumas are a touchy subject to begin with, I just shared mine to prove a point. In fact you're the only other I've shared this with."  
She blushed at the thought of knowing something special about her sempai. Iron Rapier sat down next to him after spending a few seconds enjoying the thought before she noticed something on the horizon. Ebon Knight replied as though he read her mind, "Looks like its about time."  
"Time? For what?"  
"See for yourself."  
It started as a pink line stretching across the horizon. It gradually expanded into a colossal wave of energy surging across the landscape. Eventually, it swept over the fortress before Iron Rapier noticed that the terrain had changed completely. Instead of mountains of ice and hills of snow, wide open savannah and large rock formations dotting the landscape took their place.  
"Sempai...did the field just change?"  
"Yes, this happens at fixed intervals most likely for the sake of game balance."  
"So that no Duel Avatar will ever have a long-term advantage in the Unlimited Neutral Field."  
"Thats correct. You're quite smart you know that?"  
"Well..."  
"You have to be to be able to survive to level four."  
"Is it really that much of an achievement, sempai?"  
"You'd be surprised how few Burst Linkers actually make it past level two."  
"Is it that bad?"  
"Well I have heard rumors of Burst Linkers cannibalizing their children..."  
"Cannibalize?"  
"Its not whatever you're thinking it is. Normally every Burst Linker who receives a Brain Burst install from a 'parent'. The 'child', in turn, receives the distribution right to give to one person they wish to give Brain Burst to provided they fulfill the necessary requirements for accelerated mental functions. Also each duel avatar starts off with 100 Burst points so what happens is that the parent basically duels his or her clueless child till all of their Burst Points are gone. Hence he has an easy 100 Burst points."  
"Thats just terrible..."  
"I agree but it is the easiest method. Thankfully Master-san is strongly opposed to this and made it punishable by Judgement Blow."  
She knew the weight of Judgement Blow as a punishment, implying that the crime is unacceptable in the Legion Master's eyes. Judgement Blow is a move granted only to Legion Masters that can only be used on Legion members that will remove all of the target's Burst Point, effectively executing the offending member.  
She smiled at the thought, at least the laidback Hiromu Negishi was a good person at heart.  
"He might be laidback and too carefree, but our legion master has a good heart."  
"I agree sempai."  
Iron Rapier stared out towards the horizon, she knew from her time with Brain Burst that it was a harsh and brutal game and that she was lucky to have met Kagama-sempai. She smiled again at the thought.

"So Ayumi-chan, whats your progess with sempai?"  
"Progess? What are you talking about?"

"You know? With sempai..."

Ayumi merely blushed silently as Chiyu giggled. The bullet train sped past scenery of hills and rice fields, most of the morning being spent on the bullet train heading towards Tokyo so far. Ayumi estimated that they're probably reach Tokyo in time for lunch. In the aisle across from her, she could see Kagama and Hiromu Negishi fast asleep, with the one she knew as her Legion Master snoring away. She smiled again when she saw Kagama's sleeping face, to her it seemed so peaceful.

"Let me guess, you're still at the 'looking at him from across the classroom' phase?"

"If you keep that up I won't share my snacks with you."

"You're so mean Ayumi-chan!"

Both girls laughed.


	12. Login 11: Pile

To Misaka 20,001: Lets just say that there will be some interesting fights in the this chapter and the next between the OCs and the main cast.

To The Man: Thank you for the compliment and I will address this eventually but if I do it will mark a major turning point.

Author's Notes: Yeah I noticed my updates have been getting slower since work has been wearing me out. Also in case anybody is interested, I have established this chapter as some time after Cyan Pile transfers into Umesato in the anime though I seem to be skirting AU territory (perhaps crossing it in certain cases).

Author's Notes 2: Had some free time to touch up and clean up some of the earlier chapters. Currently done cleaning up Login 00 to Login 03 (mostly corrections for consistency, minor grammatical corrections and improvements to some parts to allow the story to flow better). Enjoy them and this chapter too. I'll eventually do up the rest and Login 12.

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its OC characters.

Login 11: Pile

"Takkun!"

"Taku!"

Mayuzumi Takumu stopped his practice swing to turn his attention to the origin of the two voice, a bubbly orange haired girl and a short chubby boy. He rested the tip of his shinai on ground while using his other hand to wave at his two childhood friends.  
"Chii-chan! Haru! What are you two doing here?"

Chiyuri answered cheerfully, "I wanted to see the students from Kanagawa.I wonder what they're like?"

"Well they're probably kendo club members?"

Chiyuri gave Haruyuki an incredulous look, "Thats really obvious Haru..."  
Takumu laughed in response to the banter, "They're changing right now so they should be joining us soon...ah there they are."

A group of six students, an assortment of male and female students roughly their age entered the training hall. Five of them wore their kendo equipment while the sixth wore a tracksuit.

"Wow, the tall one sure looks scary. Bet you could beat him Takkun!"

"That girl is pointing at me..." Tenma Godou cringed as he watched Chiyuri pointing at him and making extremely exagerrated movements.

"Maybe she likes you Tenma-san."

"Thats not a very funny joke Manager-san."

"You need a sense of humor Tenma-san."

Chiyu giggled as the group put down their bags and the Umesato students began to approach them. They were led by a fit bespectacled male student in the kendo club's uniform  
"You must be the students from Kanagawa."  
Ayumi stepped forward and bowed down, prompting the others to do the same, "We'll be in your care."  
"Likewise, I hope we can learn from each other."  
Ayumi was promptly approached by one of the Umesato students, "Are you Narajima Ayumi-san?"  
"Yes I am."  
"Kyaa...I knew it! I saw your matches at the International Junior Kendo Open Tournament."  
"Well that was a long time ago..."  
"You were just ten years old!"  
Ayumi was subsequently bombarded with questions from the Umesato students. She was soon overwhelmed by the crowd before Takumu stepped between Ayumi and the crowd, his arms outstretched, "If you wish to know about Narajima-san, this is not the way to do it."  
Everyone mumbled in agreement as they backed off.  
"Are you alright Narajima-san?"  
"Yes Mayuzumi-san, I'm alright and grateful for that. Now I suppose I shouldn't keep you from training."  
"Ah...right..."  
Takumu nodded before returning to Haru and Chiyuri. As Ayumi watched him walk away, a thought intruded into her mind.

*He's mine.*

*What?*

*I said he's my target Narajima-san.*

*You're not even sure if he's a Burst Linker or not.*  
*Well...I...ok this just isn't the same when its not Minami...*

*You're on a first-name basis with Kizaki-san?*

The taller student's face turned a bright red at the statement, *Well, that doesn't mean much. I mean friends can call each other by their first names too...*  
*Just admit it, you like Kizaki-san.*  
*What? I don't...I mean I do but...argh! I'm going to go challenge the four-eyes!*  
*Mayuzumi-san? We're still not sure if he's a Burst Linker.*

*Doesn't matter, I'm still gonna beat him...*  
Tenma immediately went for his shinai, grabbing it and aimed the tip at Takumu who was at that point chatting with Haru and Chiyuri.

"Hey, Mayuzumi-san! I want to fight you, I challenge you to a match!"

"What?!"

"Like I said Four-eyes, I challenge you to a duel. You and me."

"...and why should I agree?"

"Well...urm..."

Tenma began scratching his head, he realized that he did not think through the entire scenario. However before he could think of a proper response, a high pitched voice interrupted his thoughts.  
"Takkun will definitely fight you and he'll beat that cockiness out of you!"  
"What? Chii-chan..."  
"Come on Takkun! He called you a weakling!"  
Tenma frowned, this was not how he imagined it would play out, "...but I didn't say any of that..."  
Tenma was ignored.  
"He accepts your challenge! Takkun can beat you anytime you brute!"  
Tenma sighed as he realized that he would have to proceed with the duel regardless of Takumu's opinion and desire.

"Come on Takkun! Beat him!"  
Takumu sighed as he stood in full practice armor facing a very intimidating Tenma Godou. What exasperated Takumu was not how powerful Tenma seemed but rather the circumstances of the duel. Chiyuri was not helping since she got him into this in the first place and Haru was not assertive enough to convince her. Takumu sighed again, taking in the sight of the kendo club members enthuasitically cheering for him surrounding them to form a crude arena.  
"Ready, Four-eyes?"  
"Why are you challenging me...Ranma-san is it?"  
"My name is Tenma. Tenma Godou. Don't confuse me for a gender-confused retro anime character."  
Immediatly, Tenma heard Ayumi's voice echoing in his mind with a surprised tone.  
*You actually watch anime? I never knew that.*  
*Don't tell anyone else but I mostly watch retro stuff. I mostly don't want Mi... I mean Kizaki-san to know. She'll use this to wreck my reputation or something.*  
Ayumi smiled, amused that he would be so bothered about Kizaki knowing about something this trivial.  
*Don't worry, it'll be between us, Tenma-san.*  
*Thank you Narajima-san! Now I can focus on this fight.*  
Immediatly, Tenma entered a stance with a look of zealous determination in his eyes. A look that Takumu could barely make out due to the grills on their headgear as he also took his stance. He heard a familiar voice originating from his pudgy friend.  
"You can win this Taku!"  
"Thanks Haru!"  
Gripping his shinai tight, he rapidly assessed his opponent. However he never expected what would happen next as he saw his opponent utter the last phrase he expected.  
"Burst Link"

*We are seriously going through with this?*  
*Why not?*  
Hiromu gave Kagama a questioning look as they left the changing room, dressed in their high school's kendo uniform, a white top paired with a dark blue hakama.  
*Unlike Kanagawa, Tokyo's Burst Linkers aren't completely lawless. Also we don't want to draw too much attention with you being level nine.*  
*You should calm down Gen-kun...we can take whatever the Six Kings can throw at us.*  
*We're trying to lure out Black Lotus, the most dangerous King of all.*  
*Its not like we're fighting her directly, even I'm not sure I can keep up much less defeat her.*  
As they walked through the hallway leading to the kendo hall, they passed a group of girls who giggled. However they stopped as another girl, walking in the opposite direction of Hiromu and Kagama, walked past. They could see why she would be able to stop anyone's breath, she was beautiful with her long raven black hair and pale skin. The two high schoolers paused briefly, taken aback by her beauty as she passed them. Once she turned down a corridor, Hiromu smiled, *That's her.*  
*You mean Black Lotus?*  
*Yeap, if Chameleon's investigation is right, that girl is Black Lotus.*  
*Well, he's never been wrong when it comes to investigating Burst Linkers. It makes you wonder about him.*  
*That is a question for another time, Brawler [Tenma] should be engaging Cyan Pile now.*  
*So Rapier [Ayumi] will be engaging Silver Crow according to the plan. I've also asked her to invite us and Black Lotus to spectate. Anyway before we start our part I must ask; why are we doing this?*  
*Two reasons. One is that I need to pass a message to her.*  
*...and the other reason?*  
*To test the strength of her reborn Nega Nebulous.*  
*Ok, I'm worried. For once you sound serious. What exactly happened when you met with Prussian Tyrant?*  
*To put it simply, he has made some dangerous friend; Black Vise. Chameleon's investigation points to Tokyo as his base.*  
*So we're going to the outcast for clues?*  
*Well if anything, even if they know nothing of this I want to be sure that they are strong enough to take on Black Vise and whoever he is working for, if there is anyone.*  
*Well I suppose we shall see.*

Cyan Pile [Takumu] was stunned as he stood at the end of a large ruined room. The area was littered with debris and shattered glass. At the other end of the room was a blue duel avatar with the appearance of a stereotypical bancho with a large two handed sword on his back. Cyan Pile [Takumu] noted the vents on the back of the blade.

"I knew it! You are a Burst Linker, Four-eyes!"

Cyan Pile [Takumu] opened his opponent's profile, revealing his opponent's name; Navy Brawler.

"Wait, you're Tenma-kun? You're a Burst Linker?"

"What about it?"  
"You aren't really subtle about your identity are you?"

"Is there any reason to be subtle? I mean I admit I'm not the subtle type and..."

"Guess I'll ask after I defeat you. Here and in kendo!"

"Now you're speaking my language Four-eyes!"

Navy Brawler [Tenma] drew his sword and pointed his sword at Cyan Pile [Takumu], "However you're the one who's going to be defeated!"

"Not if I can say anything about it. Cyan Spike!"

Cyan Pile [Takumu] aimed his pile driver, firing an extending spike aimed straight for Navy Brawler's [Tenma] chest. A direct attack proved to be the wrong move as Navy Brawler [Tenma] swung his blade to deflect the spike. Cyan Pile [Takumu] lost his blanace due to the momentum of the deflection of his spike, causing his pile-driver to swing wildly to the right leaving Cyan Pile [Takumu] open to attack.

Navy Brawler [Tenma] charged forward and brought his blade to bear, his blade swinging down with incredible speed. Cyan Pile [Takumu] rapidly retracted his spike and blocked the attack with his pile-driver. He was able to block the attack but the force of the strike was enough to drive the blade into the side of the weapon, rooting the blade as a result. Navy Brawler [Tenma] jerked the blade back to free it to no avail as Cyan Pile's [Takumu] chest plate opened to reveal an array of launchers.

"Splash Stinger!"

Navy Brawler [Tenma] took damage as the tiny spikes were launched at him, cracking sections of armor and dropping his health. The force of the attack however freed Navy Brawler's [Tenma] sword. Cyan Pile [Takumu] attempted to back away from Navy Brawler [Tenma] in a futile attempt to put some distance between them. This was foiled by Navy Brawler's [Tenma] persistent slashing, hacking his armor bit by bit.  
"Come on Four-eyes, don't tell me you're a complete loser when I'm this close? You're a blue avatar for goodness sake!"  
Cyan Pile [Takumu] had to admit that the gangster swordsman was right, for a blue avatar he did fare very poorly in close quarters combat and melee combat due to the ranged nature of his pile-driver. He could only attempt to stab Navy Brawler [Tenma] though this proved to be difficult due to the unwieldiness of the pile-driver. Then, Cyan Pile [Takumu] had an idea. He used his pile-driver to block an incoming slash before firing a Cyan Spike into the ceiling.  
"Don't tell me even your aim is bad? You missed!"  
"I didn't miss."  
Several small stones trickled onto Navy Brawler's [Takumu] head, drawing his attention to the ceiling. He noted the hole created by Cyan Pile's [Takumu] and realized what his plan was.  
"This is gonna hurt..."  
This realization came too late as cracks spread out and the ceiling crumbled, crashing onto Navy Brawler [Tenma] and burying him as Cyan Pile [Takumu] leapt away from the growing pile of rubble. Before the dust settled, Cyan Pile [Takumu] positioned himself and aimed his pile-driver. Spikes from his legs thrust themselves into the ground as he launched his attack.  
"Lightning Cyan Spike!"  
The spike shot through the rubble with tremendous force. However, instead of going through it, the rubble exploded as Navy Brawler [Tenma] was forced out. Cyan Pile [Takumu] was shocked, his opponent was actually blocking the spike with the flat side of his sword. The spike kept pushing against the flat of the blade, sliding him backwards before his back slammed against the wall, stopping his advance.  
"That all you got Four-eyes?"  
Cyan Pile [Takumu] knew that the only way to defeat was to keep his distance and attack from range. He rapidly retracted his spike, freeing Navy Brawler [Tenma]. That was when Cyan Pile [Takumu] made a run for it.  
"Running away? Never expected you to be so scared of my blade."  
Cyan Pile [Takumu] could hear taunting laughter while he ran through ruined halls. He rapidly simulated several plans in his mind, concluding that he still did not know enough of his opponent to come up with a proper plan.  
Then, the wall to his left exploded as a large blade was visible through the plume of dust aiming for his left shoulder with a downward slash.  
"Damn...I missed."

Cyan Pile [Takumu] quickly backpedaled as Navy Brawler [Tenma] made a series of rapid slashes, two of which made deep gashes in his chest armour. Cyan Pile [Takumu] staggered as Navy Brawler [Tenma] made another quick slash.

"I don't get it."

"What do you mean?"

"About why you're challenging me."  
"There is no reason for wanting a good fight Four-eyes!"  
Navy Brawler [Tenma] made another slash that gouged a diagonal scar across his chest, Cyan Pile [Takumu] barely blocking a returning strike with his pile-driver.  
"There must be a reason!"

"I've said it already, I just want to fight you!"

Cyan Pile [Takumu] frowned in his mind, apparently he was telling the truth. Either that, he thought, or nobody told him of any plan and simply let him loose. He was more concerned about the second possiblity but that he should probe some more.

"So are there others with you Tenma-kun? As in other Burst Linkers I mean."

"Yeah there are. What about it?"

"Well I suppose they have no idea that you're challenging someone from another Legion and in such a blatantly obvious manner too."

"Are you trying to bait me into saying that my Legion is here?"

"You came with your Legion?"

"Yeah...I mean what are you making me say! Brawler Style: Jet Slash!"

As half of Navy Brawler's [Tenma] combo meter dropped by half, Cyan Pile [Takumu] heard a loud roar before feeling his pile-driver being pushed back. Resisting resulted in the blade being driven deeper into the pile driver before the pile driver was sliced into two. Cyan Pile [Takumu] barely avoided the slash as it cleaved through his pile driver, grazing his arm in the process as the pile-driver disntegrated from being destroyed. Cyan Pile [Takumu] reacted instinctively as Navy Brawler [Tenma] prepared to follow up with a jet-boosted thrust, "Splash Stinger!"

The missiles flew into his opponent's face, causing his thrust to gouge Cyan Pile's [Takumu] left shoulder and shattering his shoulder armor.

Cyan Pile [Takumu] gritted his teeth. At the rate the battle was going, he was going to lose all his health before the timer even hit the fifteen minute mark. The only way to turn the situation around was to find open space. Then he came up with a better idea.  
Navy Brawler [Tenma] seemingly read his mind, aggressively pressing the attack and herding him.  
"Don't think I haven't figured out what you want to do. Even if you can't do anything without your pile-driver I'm not taking chances."  
"Apparently you haven't considered enough."  
Cyan Pile [Takumu] dodged the next slash as he drew back his right arm and did the desperate.  
He punched Navy Brawler [Tenma] in the gut, causing him to stagger backwards mostly in shock at the audacity of the move and from the pain. This, however, bought Cyan Pile [Takumu] the time he needed as he dashed down the corridor as an angry Navy Brawler [Tenma] recovered and gave chase. Cyan Pile [Takumu] heard loud, vulgar exclamations and even louder crashing.

Exactly as planned, Cyan Pile [Takumu] thought.

Cyan Pile [Takumu] continued running as Navy Brawler [Tenma] destroyed everything in his path, all while yelling.  
He kept running through the corridors, the crashing getting louder as Navy Brawler [Tenma] plowed his way towards the kill. Finally he ran down a corridor into a dead-end. Cyan Pile [Takumu] spun to face his back, intending to backtrack to a better location before the wall to his right exploded in a cloud of dust. A hunched figure stepped through the resulting hole, his imposing silhouette lumbering forward as the dust cleared.  
"You know there's no point stalling for a time out."  
"That wasn't what I was after..."  
"Then what..."  
Before he could finish his sentence, a single stone fell onto his head, drawing his attention to the ceiling. If his avatar had a jaw, it would be on the floor as large cracks spread across the ceiling. Loud rumbling echoed throughout the building as sections of the ceiling began caving in.

"Oh dear."

Hiromu smiled as he watched the kendo match between Tenma Godou and Mayuzumi Takumu as they clashed, their shinai's crossed.  
*Looks like Tenma-kun just lost the duel.*  
*How can you tell?*  
*Its obvious.*  
Kagama noted that his old friend's words reflected the truth as he noted that Tenma's seemed reckless, even if he was usually hot headed. This did not seem to be of much concern to Hiromu.  
*However this should at least draw the Black King's attention.*  
*I still don't fully agree with this plan.*  
*...and I don't need you to. Either way, someone must be warned of the threat this Black Vice poses.*  
Ayumi and Chiyu noticed the pair and waved as they went over. Kagama was the first to speak.  
"What's going on Takeno-san? Narajima-san?"  
Ayumi replied matter-of-factly, "Tenma-kun decided to challenge one of the students to a match and...well, you can see what it has become."  
Kagama chuckled, both at how much attention the duel was drawing and also at how flustered Tenma seemed.  
*We have accelerated and dived so often and for so long that even I forgot what it was like to fight for the sake of fighting. Not having to worry about things like Legions and wars.*  
*Well we don't have that luxury anymore Gen-kun. Seven years ago we didn't have legions or wars or even allies. There was no structure. It was just survival of the fittest.*  
*Perhaps that was when we were the most innocent and free, when there was no structure.*  
*Look at us, discussing the philopsophy of society.*  
Both laughed mentally as the fact that they were mentally older by whole magnitudes.  
They returned their attention to the duel which was being broken up by two teachers who subsequently scolded their respective students. Chiyu sighed.

"Looks like we won't get to see who's better."

The teacher clapped his hands to grab all the student's attention as they formed up for the warm-up session. As Kagama watched them, he thought to himself that Tokyo was far more dynamic than he believed. Divine Sanctuary will eventually make their mark on Tokyo, however that will not happen in the near future.

As Takumu left the kendo hall, his friends Arita Haruyuki and Kurashima Chiyuri following closely behind.  
"That was a great fight...even if Sensei had to stop it. I mean you were winning it."

Takumu frowned at Haru's statement, which was picked up almost immediatly

"Taku?"

"Someone challenged me to a duel today."

"We know. It was that Tenma guy right?"

"Yeah but this is different. He challenged me in Brain Burst and he said that he came with his Legion."

"What? We should tell Kuroyukihime-sempai!"

"I don't think we should get her pointlessly worried, he's probably from some weak group since he's not from Tokyo."

Haru frowned that his best friend did not agree. Takumu noticed this and sighed, "However I suppose it would be wise to let Master know."


	13. Login 12: Crow

To The Man: I suppose thats one way to look at it though in my opinion its more of a side story.

Author's Note: This is probably the longest chapter I have ever written so far. Also, the ending of this chapter should definitely give readers something to think about.

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its OC characters.

Login 12: Crow

"So what you're saying is that we might be targeted by someone?"  
"That seems to be the case Master. I've also looked into his claims to be sure."  
Arita Haruyuki slowly nibbled on a lettuce leaf as he sadly watched Kuroyukihime and Takumu discussing over slices of pizza. Takumu sighed at Haru's pitiful appearance, "Haru, we're doing this for your own good."  
"But Taku! This is just cruel."  
Takumu took a bite of the pizza slice in his hand before replying.  
"What is?"  
"Making me eat this salad while you two enjoy pizza."  
Kuroyukihime sighed as well, "Alright Haru, you can have my slice."  
"Alright!"  
Before she could pass the slice to him, Haru bit down on where she had already eaten. Kuroyukihime blushed profusely as Haru ate the rest of the pizza, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they had an indirect kiss. Takumu sighed again at the scene that was seemingly ripped out a romantic comedy.  
"Like I said earlier, I have looked into Navy Brawler's claim."

Kuroyukihime recovered from her embarassment enough for her to ask her question.

"So what have you found out, Professor?"

"Please stop calling me that Master and I did find a rumor."

"A rumor?"

"A white duel avatar has been sighted in the Unlimited Neutral Field."

Haru noted that Kuroyukihime stiffened at the mention of 'white duel avatar', drawing his concern, "Sempai?"  
Kuroyukihime exhaled, her stiff body relaxing as she saw Haru's worried expression. This seemed enough as reassuarance as she smiled at Haru before facing Takumu, "A white duel avatar?"  
"Yes, I'll transfer the images that a witness took..."  
Takumu made a gesture, flicking an icon towards the raven-haired beauty. The icon expanded into an image of a white robot with blue gems. His most prominent feature was a blue dome that seemed to cover most of his head.  
"Apparently someone challenged him and found out his name and level."  
Haru watched intently as Takumu paused for dramatic effect, "Alabaster Master. Level Nine."  
Haru was taken aback, "Level Nine? I thought there were only seven level nines in Brain Burst?"  
Kuroyukihime proceeded to correct Haru, "That is only in Tokyo- there are also Burst Linkers outside of Tokyo. So I suppose there is a possiblity that there are other level nine Burst Linkers other than the Kings though to think that he showed up here..."

"Do you know him sempai?"

"Only from rumors. The White Monk- Alabaster Master, the very pinnacle of melee hand-to-hand type duel avatars. Four years ago, there were stories of an avatar who defeated a thousand opponents all by himself, each one defeated by one attack each."

"Wow...that sounds incredible."

"That incident is what gave him the name, The Sage of a Thousand Palms. However, whether the story is true or not is another matter entirely. What is important, is why he has appeared and what his connection to Navy Brawler is."  
Kuroyukihime laced her fingers together as a new mail notification appeared. She smiled.  
"Looks like we'll have our chance to find out."

Ayumi felt nervous. Not because this was her first time back in Tokyo since she moved to Kanagawa but because she was alone with a guy.  
More specifically, Kagama Gen as he tapped his foot impatiently.  
"They are late."  
"Maybe we should give them five more minutes."  
"Its alright Narajima-san, I just got a mail from Himoru. He's saying we should go ahead without them."  
"Do they know how to get to the family restaurant?"  
"He has a map."  
Ayumi returned an amused expression at the statement as they set off.  
*You know sempai, I never would have expected Tokyo to have such a different side to it.*  
*What do you mean?*  
*Brain Burst and Acceleration, if you hadn't introduced me to them I wouldn't have known about the Accelerated World and Divine Sanctuary.*  
*Well to be honest I wasn't sure if your installation would succeed, or if it was even wise to try. However after seeing you these past few months, I can say you're doing quite well.*

*Thank you sempai.*

Ayumi blushed at her sempai's kind words, as they strolled through the streets, taking in the Saturday afternoon atmosphere in Tokyo.  
*So Narajima-san, gotten used to your Iron Darts ability?*  
*Well its challenging to execute but it does add diversity.*  
*True, at least you won't be completely helpless in situations where you can't use your swords.*  
*Thats true but its not my style.*  
*Well your avatar's skill set is certainly something you might not be used to. Fencing being completely different from kendo.*  
*To be honest sempai, fighting as Iron Rapier is surprisingly like kendo. The only difference is that I use thrusts more and dual wield.*  
They stopped at a traffic crossing, waiting for the lights to change.  
*Sempai, do you mind if I ask a question?*  
*Nope, ask away.*  
*You've mentioned that two years ago, Master-san and three others reached level nine at around the same time.*  
*Correct.*  
*...and they received a system message with the conditions to reach level ten.*  
*Correct, that was the same scenario the Seven Kings of Pure Colour in Tokyo at the time, faced. However despite the death of Red Rider and the exile of Black Lotus, they ultimately achieved a conditional peace. We were not so fortunate however, instead of peace, Battle Royale happened.*

*What do you mean? What is Battle Royale anyway?*

*Well, I suppose you'll need a history lesson to help you understand and you have a right to know. A long time ago, Kanagawa's territories in the Unlimited Neutral Field were evenly divided between four great legions; Divine Sanctuary, Nirvana, Harmonic Symphony and Dominance. Each of those legions were led by Legion Masters who would eventually become the first and only level nines in Kanagawa: Alabaster Master, Night Void, Topaz Diva and Prussian Tyrant.*

*Prussian Tyrant? Isn't he the Legion Master of Predatory Carnival?*

*Now, yes, but back then he was the Legion Master of Dominance. They were considered war-like and antagonistic, they were even the most active in Battle Royale though a majority of the members lost all their Burst Points. He was also the one who struck the first blow.*  
*You mean he started everything?*  
*Thats what most of the accounts say about who dealt the blow. However one thing is consistent, Topaz Diva was slain on that day. This sparked off an arms race where everyone rapidly levelled up to level nine, only to be just as quickly killed. This resulted in a situation where no one lasted long enough to fulfill the conditions to reach level ten.*

*But Divine Sanctuary somehow survived.*  
*Survived huh...that is an appropriate word. That was only possible because we absorbed those Burst Linkers who wanted nothing to do with the slaughter.*  
*That's actually quite nice of Himoru-san.*  
Kagama smiled, *Well he has always been like that, always thinking about the safety of others. Even though he has good reasons for having an active role in that war...*  
Kagama fell silent as Ayumi took the hunt and decided not to probe any further, having already learned what she wanted about the darkest period of Kanagawa's Brain Burst history.

Chiyu waved as she saw Kagama and Ayumi standing outside the family restuarant they had agreed to meet. Ayumi dashed out to meet them.

"Hey guys! Sorry we're late!"

"No problem Chi-chan but it looks like there aren't any free tables in there."  
"So I guess we're eating elsewhere?"  
As they discussed among themselves about where they should go during their alloted free time, a voice which she took to be Tenma, echoed in Ayumi's mind.  
*Looks like Four-eyes isn't here.*  
Another voice, Himoru's, echoed in response.  
*I understand your desire for payback Tenma-kun but this is Narajima-san's turn to shine.*  
*Fighting the flyer aren't we? Well good luck with that sempai, I heard he's some kind of demon strategist who's not afraid of using sly, under-handed strategies.*  
*I'm sure that Narajima-san can handle whatever Silver Crow throws at her.*  
Ayumi smiled nervously as she thought how she would fare against someone as unique as Silver Crow. A flyer who she believes has a clear and obvious advantage. As she continued worrying, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder and a reassuring voice filling her mind.  
*You'll be fine, you've proven that you have got what it takes to handle any kind of opponent.*

Those words alone seemed to be enough to erase any doubts in her mind as her nervous expression relaxed.  
Himoru seemed to pick up on the change in her demeanour as he grinned, sighting a familiar black haired girl and a short, chubby boy seated at the window seat of the restaurant, *If we're all ready, we'll accelerate in five minutes.*

Haru nervously wringed his fingers as Kuroyukihime casually looked through a virtual menu. After several seconds, she pointed to an image of a very elaborate strawberry sundae that flashed as Haru's virtual wallet deducted the cost. He nearly fainted at the cost.  
"Sempai! That costs half my allowance..."  
She ignored Haru's whimpering as she proceeded to change the subject, "So Haru, I was thinking we should have a sleepover again."  
"You mean like that time with Niko?"  
Kuroyukihime's expression darkened, her eyes seemingly a shade darker.  
"Yes, like that time...except without 'Niko'."  
Haru cowered even further at the implied danger of her words, immediatly trying to defend himself, "Niko didn't have anywhere else to stay!"

"She could have just gone back to her dorm."

"Well...that is..."

Before Haru could come up with a proper reply, the world froze taking on a blue hue- an indication that they had accelerated. Then the area map began to generate, overlaying itself over the existing structures. Haru as Silver Crow up from his seat, accompanied by the now blade limbed Kuroyukihime as Black Lotus, leaving the ruined building that was the restaurant they were in.

"It seems that you have gotten my invitation World End."

They were greeted by a trio of duel-avatars: one white monk, a black knight and a metallic female avatar. Silver Crow's [Haru] attention was drawn to the female metal avatar's six sheathed swords as the white monk avatar stepped forward revealing himself to be the speaker.

"It is an honour to meet you, my name is Alabaster Master, the Legion master of Divine Sanctuary."  
"I have heard alot about you, though most of the rumors border on mythology."  
"You must have heard the Sage of a Thousand Palms story. I assure you that most of it is exaggerated..."  
"...but exaggerations do have some basis of truth."  
"Well-said Black Lotus! Iron Rapier-chan, you may begin while I continue my very enlightening discussion with Black Lotus-san."  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] gave a curt nod in response, drawing her swords as Silver Crow [Haru] entered a defensive stance. She made her charge, unleashing a flurry of piercing thrusts. The strikes dinged off Silver Crow's [Haru] armor, only scratching it and barely causing any damage at all as his special move bar grew steadily from the incoming damage. Haru's confidence grew with his special move meter, believing that Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was nothing special.  
That confidence was shattered immediatly.  
"Hatchet Kick!"  
A roundhouse struck his midsection, causing him to lose his focus as a sharp pain rippled through his side. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] withdrew her leg and freeing her leg blade that had cut a chunk out of Silver Crow's mid-section. He was barely able to dodge a follow-up thrust to his face as he activated his signature ability- his wings unfurling.

Silver Crow [Haru] flew upwards before Iron Rapier [Ayumi] could connect her next attack, rapidly gaining vertical distance.  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] stood there, unable to do anything as Silver Crow [Haru] flitted about as though he were taunting her. Elated that he had gained such an early advantage over his opponent. One could almost hear Black Lotus's [Kuroyukihime] smirk.

"Looks like your champion is grounded Alabaster Master."

"However it seems that yours gets overjoyed very easily so I wouldn't put her down just yet..."

By the time Silver Crow [Haru] got over his joy, Iron Rapier [Ayumi] had disappeared.

"Where'd she go?"

As Silver Crow [Haru] scanned the general area hoping to find his missing opponent, never noticing that Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was slowly scaling the stairs of a nearby building before emerging on the roof.  
Silver Crow [Haru] soon felt a weight on his back as Iron Rapier [Ayumi] leapt onto him.  
"What are you doing Rapier-san!? That's dangerous!"  
She remained silent as she drove a blade between his shoulder blades causing Silver Crow to howl in pain, losing altitude and focus in the process. Silver Crow [Haru] gripped the blade of the rapier, his attempts to push the blade out were met with failure.  
"You sure have a pretty low pain tolerance, you screamed pretty loudly."  
"No! I didn't...urgh."  
Silver Crow [Haru] felt another sharp pain, noting that there were no additional attacks but he did lose a small chunk of health. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] answered his question before he could ask.  
"This is one of my normal attacks: Pierce. Namely it drives my sword through my opponent and it remains there causing periodic damage. On top of that, it cannot be removed by normal means."  
"What does that...ow...mean?"  
"You'll keep receiving damage until you either die or I choose to clear it like this. Heavy Strike!"

Black Lotus [Kuroyukihime] watched as Silver Crow [Haru] was struck with explosive force, causing him to impact the ground with enough force to create a crater. If Black Lotus [Kuroyukihime] could express worry on her robotic face, she would. Alabaster Master [Himoru] seemed to pick up on this.  
"She's surprisingly powerful isn't she? Her abilities are also incredibly painful..."

"That seems to be the case but it appears that you have something you wish to discuss with me if you went to all this trouble."

"Seems that you do deserve your position as King, though I would be disappointed if you couldn't figure out something this obvious...yes I do want to discuss certain matters with you. Have you heard of a duel Avatar named Black Vice?"  
"That name is not familiar."  
"Looks like he hasn't made his move here yet..."  
"What are you talking about? If you're..."  
"I originally wanted to ask for information regarding Black Vice but it appears that is not possible at the moment."  
Alabaster Master [Himoru] scratched his chin as he watched Iron Rapier [Ayumi] standing over a facedown Silver Crow [Haru] at the bottom of a shallow crater. He chuckled at the comedic sight.  
"However I suspect that he might be part of an organization of some sort."  
"If what you said in your mail is true, then Black Vice could be anything. He could be striking out alone."  
"That could be true...Black Lotus, can I ask you a question?"

"You may ask."

"What drove you to rebel against the other kings? Why would you seek to destroy the peace that your brethren had worked so hard towards?"  
"It was a mistake starting all that, I believed I was doing the right thing...then I decided to chase that ridiculous rumor...I should have known it was impossible..."  
Alabaster Master raised his hand.  
"Say no more, I understand perfectly what happened. All I can say is that we can only live with the mistakes we have made and the lessons we choose to take from them."  
"You certainly do live up to your name, Master-san."  
"Do I? Considering what I have lived through I don't consider myself much of a master. I have watched many Burst Linkers I had considered friends lose their Burst Points and so many were taken by my own hands."

Black Lotus [Kuroyukihime] nodded silently, acknowledging that she understood his circumstances. Alabaster Master [Himoru] smiled to himself quietly as he continued to observe the fight next to Ebon Knight [Kagama].  
"Worried, Ebon-san?"  
"About what?"  
"Rapier-san of course."  
"I'm confident in her abilities. Why should I be worried?"  
"You know full well that's not what I'm talking about. Rapier-san isn't too bad in my opinion."  
"What on earth are you talking about?"  
"Are you that dense? She's obviously interested in you."  
"There's no way...I mean she is quite popular..."  
"You're popular in school too, whats your point?"  
"I mean dating a kouhai...it isn't proper behaviour."  
"This is the year 2046. That kind of mindset belongs in the 1960s or something."  
Alabaster Master [Himoru] sighed, crossing his arms as he did.

Silver Crow [Haru] was grazed by yet another thrust, gritting his teeth as the new wound in his shoulder exploded in pain from the sword impaled there. The pain affected his focus as it pulsed once more, proving itself detrimental as another blade was driven through his stomach. He howled again as the pain increased. Silver Crow [Haru] had to gain some distance, flying updwards before she could plant another sword into him. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] responded by drawing out three knives from her right thigh, throwing them with a flick of her wrist. Two were dodged while the last one embedded itself onto Silver Crow's [Haru] back.  
"Whats with you? All your abilities cause continuous pain! Are you a closet sadist or something?"  
"Well you don't seem to mind."  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] leaped after the airborne Silver Crow [Haru], thrusting her blade. Silver Crow [Haru] blocked the thrust with his bracers, causing him minimal damage as his health continued to steadily drop. He counter-attacked by swinging his arms out, forcing her sword away. Silver Crow [Haru] used the opening to throw a punch square in her gut. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] fell as Silver Crow [Haru] flew straight up before stopping. He noted his still depleting health.  
"I'm ending this now!"

He immediatly began to dive with his right leg going first in a high velocity drop kick aimed for Iron Rapier [Ayumi]. As Silver Crow [Haru] hurtled towards her like a meteor, braced herself as she watched the kick come closer, waiting for the right moment to dodge.

That moment came as she twisted her body away from the deadly kick, using the spin's momentum to add another sword to Silver Crow's [Haru] body to his surprise. He crashed into the ground, driving his body into the dirt. Struggling to push himself out of the dirt, he only had enough time to hear a voice as a bladed leg swung downwards towards him.

"Now who is ending this battle? Hatchet Kick!"

"I'm sorry sempai!"

"How could you fall for such a simple trick...and it wasn't even the first time..."

Kuroyuikihime pouted as Haru lay face down on the duel had ended in Haru's rather humiliating loss.  
"However they are certainly an interesting group don't you think, Haru?"  
"Yeah, I mean its interesting to know that there are other Burst Linkers outside of Tokyo but..."  
"...but what Haru?"  
"I feel sorry for them."  
"Why?"  
"Well Alabaster-san had to watch so many of his friends disappear. To watch those you care about just disappear no matter how hard you fight to protect them. Its just sad."  
Kuroyukihime took a sip of her drink calmly looking out the window.  
"Losing everything you care about huh...I guess their reality could have easily become ours but what they have experienced is Brain Burst in its basest form."  
Haru looked up as a waitress came with their fries, which he promptly took.  
"Brain Burst's basest form?"  
"Do you still remember what you said after your first fight with Ash Roller?"  
"About Brain Burst being just a fighting game?"  
"Yes, when you strip away legions, kings and levels away from Brain Burst, all you get is just a fighting game. A game of survival of the fittest."  
"I still don't get it sempai."  
Kuroyukihime smiled.  
"You don't have to understand. Not yet."

A large blue figure sat on a dark metal throne, his trademark chainsaw sword leaning on the throne's armrest. Prussian Tyrant was slumped back, his eyes staring into space, deep in thought. Voices echoed in his mind as he recalled the moment two years ago. The moment he destroyed Kanagawa and his friendships in a single sweep.

_A cool breeze swept through a field as four avatars gathered. Each of them was a distinct colour; blue, white, yellow and the last was black. The first to speak was the black avatar who had a seemingly featureless female body seeminngly composed of stars and nebulas._

_"All of you can guess why I have called for this meeting."_

_The yellow avatar immediatly jumped excitedly. The yellow avatar was had the appearance of someone dressed for a performance, a long flowing dress with blue gems on her chest and hips concealed her slender legs. Her face was framed by an elegant tiara with long brown hair flowing out._

_"Is it true? What that message said about reaching level ten Shiori-chan?"_

_"I told not to call us by our real names here, Topaz Diva."_

_"All right Night Void-san..."_

_"...and yes, it has to do with the system message."_

_Topaz Diva calmed down at the mention of her duel avatar name, careful to put emphasis on the black avatar's name. However having her question answered did not appear to reduce her anxiety. The next to speak was the white avatar, Alabaster Master._  
_"Defeating six other level nine Burst Linkers in deathmatch duels? That is quite a harsh condition just to up one more level and supposedly meet the creator of Brain Burst."_  
_Night Void nodded in agreement while Topaz Diva cocked her head to one side._  
_"Deathmatch?"_  
_"The loser of duels between level nines will lose all their Burst Points."_  
_"That's terrible."_  
_Alabaster Master nodded in agreement as Night Void hovered forward._  
_"Now we, as the legion masters of the four most powerful legions in Kanagawa, have to decide our next course of action. I say that we maintain the current status quo."_  
_Alabaster Master and Topaz Diva nodded in agreement while Prussian Tyrant maintained his silence. Alabaster Master decided to continue._  
_"Agreed. In addition there are only four level nines, namely the four of us. So unless everyone suddenly aims to become level ten and starts levelling up there is no way the condition can be fulfilled."_

_"Then would it be possible if all Burst Linkers were to strive towards level ten?"_

_The other three were stunned as Prussian Tyrant, who had remained silent this entire time offered his input, however dangerous it would seem. Night Void had immediatly picked up on this._

_"Tyrant...are you saying that we should just slaughter each other until someone eventually achieves level ten?"_

_"The objective of this game to become stronger and reach level ten is it not?"_

_"That might be true but..."_  
_"Also we have trampled on countless others just to reach our current position! Aren't we being hypocrites if we don't follow this through to the end?"_  
_"This is different! The battles we fought weren't deathmatches! The ones who lost all their Burst points went into the fights despute knowing the risks. The battles to reach level ten are all death matches! In addition, with such harsh conditions who will want to even become level nine? Even Ebon Knight is holding off on levelling."_  
_"Then he is a coward for not taking the next step."_  
_Alabaster Master clenched his fists._  
_"Tyrant, are you even listening to yourself? You are practically suggesting we destroy each other just to get to level ten."_

_Topaz Diva moved to stand between Alabaster Master and Prussian Tyrant._

_"Guys, please calm down. I don't like it when you're fighting like this..."_

_She was ignored as the two males stood off, Prussian Tyrant drew his sword. Alabaster Master entered a defensive stance, anticipating an attack. Topaz Diva glared at Alabaster Master, causing him to relax. Prussian Tyrant, however, ignored this._

_"If all of you are intent on maintaining this farce then it appears that I must be the one to make the first move..."_

_Prussian Tyrant shoved Topaz Diva aside and charged forward, his chainsaw sword roaring to life. Alabaster Master dodged the blade as it swung downwards and leaped foward, launching a flurry of punches that were promptly blocked. Alabaster Master jumped back as the blade was swung out, causing him to stand in the path of the chainsaw sword as it swung downwards. Instead of striking Alabaster Master, another avatar stood in the path of the blade._

_Alabaster Master remained standing in shock as Topaz Diva was cleaved into two pieces, the halves dissipating as Night Void, overcoming her own shock at Prussian Tyrant's unprovoked attack._  
_"High Gravity!"_  
_Prussian Tyrant fell face first onto the ground as a rune appeared on the ground, followed by a massive downward pressure. However, this did not seem to put him down, laughing in response._  
_"Its pointless! The Battle Royale has already begun!"_  
_His laughter continued to echo as the match timed out._

Prussian Tyrant sighed, it was still a painful memory for him even if he was the one who had betrayed them. Then it occurred to him that it was strange that he had no recollection of being friends with Alabaster Master, Night Void and Topaz Diva. Stranger still was the fact that he could not recall anything before and immediatly after that and yet, somehow, he could remember that particular exchange so vividly.  
He decided that these thoughts were unimportant as he resumed his brooding and planning.


	14. Login 13: Incarnate

Author's Note: Its me again, been really busy so new chapters have been kinda slow but I'm still hanging on somehow. As for this chapter I decided to expand on Cerulean Warrior's character abit since, in concept, he's supposed to be more interesting then some bit character that you say hi to. Also deciding to start on some character development for Haki too this chapter since I do admit that he is woefully under developed as a character as well. Anyway enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Accel World or any other works by the author Reki Kawahara. Any relation to actual people, locations or concepts and ideas belonging to similar fiction is purely coincidental. The only thing I do own is this story and its OC characters.

Login 13: Incarnate

Ayumi entered her own classroom, immediatly being greeted by her classmates.  
"Narajima-san! I heard you really showed the guys at Umesato."  
"Well not really..."  
This went on for fifteen minutes as she described the training excursion until a boy she recognized as the vice class rep, Shingo Takemichi, appeared.  
"Alright that's enough, the teacher is on her way for homeroom so can everyone be seated at your tables?"  
Some voices replied in a joking tone, "Yes Class Rep two!"  
Shingo replied back in a similar manner, already used to the playful teasing.  
"That's Vice-rep to you all..."  
Before he could continue, their homeroom teacher, Urahama Aoi, entered the classroom.  
"Everyone settle down, as some of you might know about the School Cultural Festival already so for today's homeroom we'll decide what our class is doing for the festival!"  
Everyone began to discuss among themselves animatedly, mostly about what they think every other class will be doing. Immediatly the class rep, Takafuji Minori, stood up and went to the front of the class. She wore her long black hair into a twin tails style, held up by matching silver rings, with a short fringe. Her face was what most would describe as cute. However, as Ayumi found out when she first transferred  
"Ok everyone...I understand everybody is excited about the cultural festival so, like what sensei said, we'll be using this long homeroom to decide what our class will do. So any suggestions?"  
Immediatly, a storm of voices erupted in excitement, each with their own suggestions. The class rep sighed as the noise became increasingly overwhelming, her calm face breaking down into an expression of mild annoyance.  
"Everyone quiet!"  
A sudden silence fell over the entire class that even bothered Urahama-sensei. Takafuji took this as a chance to continue.

"Ok, now that I have your attention... can everyone who has a suggestion raise your hand and we'll listen to your suggestion."

Immediatly everyone offered their suggestions up in an orderly manner, the class rep writing each suggestion on the virtual board as they did. Ayumi noted how quickly the list grew, though it was mostly random and cliched. As Ayumi continued to listen to the discussion about the pros and cons of each and every suggestion, a new mail indicator flashed in the corner of her view. She lazily pointed to it, opening the mail and noting that the mail's sender was Kagama Gen, her senior and second-in-command of her legion, Divine Sanctuary.

'Narajima-san, dive into the Unlimited Neutral Field tonight at exactly 9PM and come to the main meditation balcony. It is time to start your training.'

Ayumi became curious at the ending sentence. What kind of training was it, she thought as she watched the class discussing amongst themselves before finally deciding what they wanted to do through a vote. The vote revealed a clear and obvious winner.

"Ok, it looks like its decided. We're going to go with an Edo-themed cafe with Narajima-san as our star waitress. Do we have any volunteers?"  
Ayumi sat up in surprise at the sudden assignment.  
"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well you are quite famous around school, so we were planning on using your 'star power' aa advertisement for the cafe."  
"I think there's a rule against that..."

"I'm not too sure about that but we can just say you volunteered to avoid any problems?"

Everyone was taken aback by how nonchalant the statement was before Ayumi nodded slowly in agreement.

"Then its settled then. Any more volunteers?"

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] strided onto the large circular open balcony, noting that several familiar avatars were already gathered, namely Ruby Princess [Kizaki], Navy Brawler [Tenma] and Emerald Bulwark [Haki]. She wondered about where Hideo Tarou was, also known as the duel avatar Lemon Chameleon. However she decided not to dwell too much on that matter as she noticed an unfamiliar blue samurai avatar. Ebon Knight [Kagama] turned and noticed her approach. Lightning streaked across the sky illuminating a desolate desert with large rock formations as Ebon Knight [Kagama] and the blue avatar approached her.  
"Ah, you made it Rapier-san!"  
"Sempai..."  
She smiled at the fact that the black armored figure, Ebon Knight [Kagama], had acknowledged her even if no one could see her smile. This did not sate her curiosity about the blue avatar as he took a step forward.  
"You must be Iron Rapier, I've heard alot about you from Ebon-dono."  
"Have we met before...?"  
"Oh I'm so sorry, how rude of me. I'm Cerulean Warrior. My friends just call me Ceru."  
He held out his hand which Iron Rapier [Ayumi] took, accepting a firm handshake. Ebon Knight [Kagama] looked on before addressing the rest of the group.

"Now that everyone is here, I'm sure you're all curious about why you've been called here."

Ebon Knight [Kagama] gestured with a guantleted hand towards Cerulean Warrior, "You've all been introduced to Cerulean Warrior here so I'll make this blunt and direct: he will be teaching you all to use Incarnation."

The four of them stood there wide-eyed. The first to speak was Iron Rapier [Ayumi].

"Wait...teaching us all to use Incarnation?"

"Yes thats what I said."

"To be honest I don't feel that we're that ready..."

Navy Brawler [Tenma] raised his hand in protest before Ruby Princess [Kizaki] elbowed him in the gut, causing him to keel over. Ebon Knight [Kagama] sighed.

"As much as I'm inclined to agree with you, we don't have that luxury. Besides, Ceru is a far better person to teach you about Incarnation."  
Cerulean Warrior shook his head.  
"You give me too much credit Ebon-dono."  
"Deserved or not Ceru, they will be under your care for a month."  
Ruby Princess [Kizaki] raised her hand.

"I have a question, by a month do you mean an accelerated month or a normal month?"  
"An accelerated month, meaning that we'll probably be doing this through the night. Anyway I'll leave you all in the capable hands of Ceru while I Link Out...I've got a meet-up with my high school kendo club team."

"Then have fun sempai!"

Ebon Knight [Kagama] was startled by Iron Rapier's [Ayumi] outburst before replying back in a tone suggesting a hint of happiness, "Ok, I will."

As Ebon Knight [Kagama] disappeared down the stairs, Ruby Princess [Kizaki] gently moved close to Iron Rapier's [Ayumi] side.

"'Then have fun sempai!' huh?"

"What is it?"

"Making your move on him?"  
"Making my move? What are you talking?"  
"You know, for a student whose grades are in the top twenty of the entire school you're as dense as your duel avatar's metal colour."  
"What is that supposed to mean?"  
Ruby Princess [Kizaki] crossed her arms as she replied in a haughty tone.  
"Oh, nothing at all..."  
Before she could question the red avatar further, Cerulean Warrior began addressing his new students.

"Ok, before we begin learning about Incarnation...we'll be going on a hike."

"Someone explain to me again why we're trekking across a virtual desert in an online game?"

Navy Brawler [Tenma] groaned as he trudged behind Ruby Princess [Kizaki] who, unlike the exhausted Navy Brawler [Tenma], hovered comfortably over the sand as they passed massive rock formations.  
"We're going to Ceru-san's home to learn Incarnation."  
"It had better be worth the one day journey."

"Well even if its worth it, I don't think you'd figure out Incarnation."

"What makes you so sure?"

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] sighed as Emerald Bulwark [Haki] shook his head at the sight of the blue and red avatar bickering away at the back of the group. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] strided towards Cerulean Warrior.

"As much as their bickering keeps getting excessive, I do agree with them."

"If you're going to ask me how much further we'll have to go...its just through that cave ahead."

Just ahead of the group was a large cave mouth which they rapidly entered, if only to escape from the heat. Navy Brawler [Tenma] wiped his brow with his forearm, cleaning away imaginery sweat.

"This is so much better..."  
"...but it still looks like we still have a ways to go."  
"Well its no big deal for you since her highness is floating."  
"Goes to show how smart my mental scar is."  
"That doesn't even make sense."  
"It doesn't have to."  
Emerald Bulwark [Haki] slowed down to walk with arguing, attempting to mediate their nonsensical argument. Cerulean Warrior simply laughed at the comical sight.  
"I'm starting to understand why Ebon-dono is so frustrated and yet he's never been happier."  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] cocked her head sideways, puzzled by his statement. Cerulean Warrior seemed to notice her confusion.  
"I've known Ebon-dono for four years now and I have never seen him get so enthusiastic about Brain Burst before. He especially glows when he talks about you Rapier-san"  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was startled at the statement. Before she could question Cerulean Warrior further, he pointed straight towards the cave mouth.

"Looks like we're almost there."

They exited the tunnel, immediatly being bathed in soft warm sunlight that streamed between the leaves of tall, towering bamboos. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] marvelled at how serene the atmosphere was as they following a dirt trail before reaching a clearing. The clearing was the size of a football field, the low grass rustled gently in the breeze as they approached a lone building, a japanese style single storey home, Iron Rapier [Ayumi] also noted several craters and debris directly infront of the building. She was curious about that but she had a feeling that she will find out soon enough during this Incarnation Boot Camp. Cerulean Warrior spun around, spreading his arms outwards as though to take in the entire scene.

"Welcome to my humble abode!"

Everyone entered a large, common training hall that was decorated like a kendo dojo down to the calligraphy hanging on the walls. Cerulean Warrior had drawn out the longer of his two swords, the tip of the blade on the ground while both hands rested on the hilt. He addressed the group kneeling, or in Ruby Princess's [Kizaki] case, floated, in front of him.  
"Before we begin our Incarnation training, let ask all of you a question: What do you think Incarnation is?"  
Ruby Princess [Kizaki] raised her hand immediatly, aiming to impress her teacher as she shot a smug look at Navy Brawler.  
"Incarnation is a system skill that is used to overwrite system limitations with imagery and willpower."

"Textbook response; you're limiting your ideas of Incarnation to the context of Brain Burst. It is true that Incarnation can overwrite the system's limitations but that very idea is a shackle to what Incarnation is capable of. It'll be easier if I showed you..."  
Cerulean Warrior gripped the hilt of his sword and swung it to face forward, spinning to face a Target Dummy. The blade glowed a ghostly green as he aimed the sword tip at the target, he took a deep breath and disappeared before reappearing behind the Target Dummy sheathing his sword. One second later, the Target Dummy fell apart, neatly sliced into four pieces. Everyone simply sat in awe as Cerulean Warrior addressed them. Navy Brawler [Tenma] did not share in their awe-inspired silence.  
"I just boosted the power of my special attack, Phantom Slash, with Incarnation. In a normal situation, Target Dummy is usuallu invincible and can't be destroyed like that."  
"Doesn't seem like much...ow! What was that for!?"  
Navy Brawler [Tenma] rubbed the spot at the back of his head where Ruby Princess [Kizaki] had slapped him.  
"Ceru-san already said that he was holding back you idiot."  
"I know that! I was only saying that I expected something...flashy."  
"That's ridiculous..."  
Cerulean Warrior raised his hand, immediatly silencing the duo.  
"I can understand what you're implying, especially considering the rumors you've been hearing about 'ridiculous abilities'."  
Iron Rapier [Ayumi] knew about the rumors, one of the more outrageous ones being about a skill capable of nuking the entire Tokyo metropolis area.  
"However, Incarnation is something that cannot be limited by pre-conceived notions...anyway enough with the lecture. Let's get started, everyone close your eyes and empty your thoughts."

Navy Brawler [Tenma] groaned, "Ceru-san! We aren't monks, why the heck are we meditating?"

He was only greeted with silence.

"Forget it! I'll just shut-up and meditate!"

"Ebon Charge!"

A flash of dark energy pierced the large, gray dragon before Ebon Knight [Kagama] appeared behind it as it collapsed. He panted slightly as he folded the lance backwards, noting the window that notified him of his win and the amount of Burst Points and items he had won. One item caught his interest; Valkyrie Armor. He exhaled, his eyes sweeping over the vast grassland before him as he heard footsteps  
"Looks like you got something off that Enemy."  
Ebon Knight [Kagama] turned to address a yellow anthromorphic chameleon who had seemingly appeared from thin air.  
"Nothing much Chameleon, just the usual and an Enhanced Armament I can't use."  
Lemon Chameleon [Hideo] cocked his head to one side, his bulbous eyes rotating as he did. Ebon Knight [Kagama] had to admit that Lemon Chameleon's [Hideo] appearance was one of the few things he could never get used to.  
"An Enhanced Armament with equip conditions? Now that's rare."  
"It seems only female Burst Linkers can equip this..."  
Closing his inventory window with a swipe of his hand, Ebon Knight [Kagama] focused on Lemon Chameleon [Hideo], "You're not the type to wander around without a reason."

"...and you're right Ebon Knight, I've been looking further into the Obelisk data we got that time and I discovered something really strange."

"Strange?"

"Its how the data replication protocol is supposed to be executed without Brain Burst's own security protocols blocking the replication..."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lemon Chameleon [Hideo] laughed before re-composing himself, "This means that whoever wrote the Obelisk's software knows the creator, or at least has access to Brain Burst's source code."

"If Predatory Carnival had access to something like that why would they need to break into the Halls of Akashic?"

"That is the part I'm confused about. In fact this entire situation doesn't make sense."

Ebon Knight [Kagama] shook his head slowly.

"None of this makes sense, especially Prussian Tyrant's behaviour..."

Ebon Knight [Kagama] casually sat down on the grass, crossing his legs as he rubbed his chin in thought. Lemon Chameleon [Hideo] followed suit.  
"Either way, the only way to find out is to go into the Halls of Akashic and find out..."  
"You've changed alot Ebon Knight."  
"Everyone's been saying that."  
"Something to do with Rapier-san?"  
"Everyone has also been saying that. Anyway I'm heading out."  
Lemon Chameleon [Hideo] simply nodded. He thought to himself that they, Ebon Knight [Kagama] and Iron Rapier [Ayumi], were incredibly similar. They were both strong, stubborn and closed off when it came to their true feelings. He got up to follow Ebon Knight [Kagama], Lemon Chameleon [Hideo] smiled to himself thinking that both Iron Rapier [Ayumi] and Ebon Knight [Kagama] were truly meant for each other.  
Now if only they would admit it.

Cerulean Warrior led his students down a short path through the bamboo forest before emerging into a smaller clearing. Iron Rapier [Ayumi] noted the lack of grass and any other features, save for a large humanoid, Golem Target Dummy.  
"This will be your Incarnation training, destroy this target in one hit. It doesn't matter how you do it, just destroy it in one hit."  
Navy Brawler [Tenma] confidently stepped forward, rolling his shoulders followed by arm stretches.  
"This is gonna be a piece of cake..."  
Ruby Princess [Kizaki] laughed at his display of bravado.  
"Bet you can't even scratch it."  
"Oh I'll beat this dummy down so fast you won't even know what happened...just need to build up my meter first."  
Navy Brawler [Tenma] drew out his sword and began swinging wildly, cutting a swath into the bamboo forest. Ruby Princess [Kizaki] was about to protest when Cerulean Warrior raised his hand to stop her.

"Its fine Ruby-chan, building up your special by destroying environment objects doesn't count to the one hit though to be honest it doesn't really matter..."

Iron Rapier [Ayumi] was curious about what his statement meant. Then she understood as Navy Brawler [Tenma] prepared his attack.

"Jet Sword!"

He roared as he swung his blade, leaving a trail of flames and vapor in the sword's wake. Contact with the dummy resulted in an explosion, the shockwave causing the surrounding bamboo forest to bend away from the epicentre. The rest of group staggered backwards to ensure that they were not toppled by the burst of force. However, despite the impressive show of force, the results proved to be disappointing as the target got of it unscathed with its health more or less intact.

"Hah! I knew you couldn't do it!"  
"Shut it Tomato Midget!"

"Who's a Tomato you muscle head?!"  
Cerulean Warrior shook his head at the sight of their bickering.  
"I don't expect anyone to be able to do it on the first try. However what you all should do is visualize how you'll destroy it."  
Emerald Bulwark raised his hand to interrupt, "That sounds like something you ripped that off from a self-help book."  
Everyone in the group muttered in agreement, causing Cerulean Warrior to sigh again.  
"This is a tough crowd...fine. I'll demonstrate that my test is doable."  
He drew out the longer of his two swords, using both hands to hold the grip. The blade glowed as he raised it over his head.  
"Brute Slash!"  
The downward swing produced a ghostly blue trail before impacting the ground as it cleaved the target dummy. Navy Brawler [Tenma] watched in awe as the dummy's health emptied out instantly. It disappeared in a stream of data before a new Golem Target Dummy spawned.  
"That. Is. Awesome."  
"So since I've proven its doable, I'd like all of you to work on it. I'll be back to call all of you for dinner."  
Cerulean Warrior spun on his heel and proceeded to go back down the path they had come from. Soon, he heard rapid footsteps as Emerald Bulwark [Haki] sprinted to catch up with the blue avatar.  
"Whats wrong Bulwark-san?"  
"I can't complete your test! Its impossible!"  
"Why?"  
"Ceru-san, my abilities are all defensive. There's no way I can do it!"  
"You know Bulwark-san, there is a saying: a good defence can be a good offence. There is no right or wrong answer to my test, the only answer is the one you feel is right."  
With that cryptic answer, he continued down his path. In his mind, he could see his student's potential just waiting to be opened and realized. He wondered to himself; what form will their Incarnation take?


End file.
